Rain 2% below normal in June-August

The country has received 691.9 mm rains so far, with the deficit in the current monsoon season widening slightly to 2 per cent, from 1 per cent last week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

It said the parched east and northeast parts of the country received 891.5 mm rains as on Aug 29, 21 per cent below normal. The weather body on Friday drew a bleak picture for the region, saying rainfall in the predominantly paddy and maize-growing region during the season was likely to remain below normal.

Standing paddy crops in Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of West Bengal, and eastern Uttar Pradesh have been badly affected by weak monsoon. Tea output in the key growing region is also expected to take a hit because of the adverse weather. The country’s grain-bowl northwest India made up the deficit at 518.2 mm, 6 per cent above normal, the data said.

In oilseed-growing central India, rains have been 1% below normal until Sunday at 778.0 mm, while in the spice, and coffee-growing southern peninsula, rain increased to 18 per cent above normal at 653.9 mm, it said. The IMD expects heavy rainfall over Konkan and Goa, south Gujarat and Madhya Maharashtra during the next 48 hours. Also “widespread rainfall activity with scattered heavy to very heavy rain may occur over Konkan and Goa in Maharashtra, isolated heavy-to-heavy rain over Gujarat, north interior Karnataka and Telengana”, the IMD said.

The weather department expects overall rainfall to improve as the monsoon progresses and has forecast Jun-Sep rains at 102 per cent of the long period average. Rains were 84 per cent of the 50-year period average in June, and 98 per cent of the long period average in July. The weather department has forecast August-September rain at 107 per cent of the long period average.