Monsoon variables

Spread of rain is more important than total precipitation

If the long-range monsoon prediction of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) holds true, the country can hope to get good rain during the four-month rainy season (June to September) for a fifth year in a row. Such prolonged phases of normal monsoon are quite infrequent, even if not unprecedented. The IMD anticipates the total seasonal rainfall to be 96 per cent of the long-period average. Though this prediction does not tally with the projection of below-normal rainfall (94 per cent) announced a day earlier by private weather forecaster Skymet, the difference is only marginal, which, for all practical purposes, is