El Nino — warming of the waters in the Pacific Ocean near South America — has not affected the monsoon rains so far, Mohapatra said
New Delhi:
India is likely to receive below-average rainfall in August due to the El Nino weather pattern, a senior weather department official said on Monday, after an above-average monsoon in July helped farmers accelerate crop planting.
Rainfall in August is estimated at 92% of the long-period average, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), told a virtual press conference.
India’s weather defines average, or normal, rainfall as ranging between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the four-month season.
Farmers typically start planting rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and peanuts, among other crops, from June 1, when monsoon rains are expected to begin drenching India. Sowing usually lasts until July and early August.
Summer rains are crucial as nearly half of India’s farmland lacks irrigation.
Rain in India in June was 10% below average, but in some states, the rainfall deficit was as much as 60% below normal.
July monsoon rains were 13% above average, and between June 1 and July 31, India experienced monsoon rains that were 5% above average.
It said normal to above normal rainfall is very likely over east central India, parts of the east and northeast region and most subdivisions along the Himalayas.
Below normal rainfall is predicted in most parts of peninsular India and western parts of northwest and central India, Mohapatra said.
While India recorded 13 per cent excess rainfall in July, east and northeast regions of the country gauged the third lowest precipitation in the month since 1901, he said.
At 258.6 mm, northwest India recorded the highest rainfall in July since 2001, Mohapatra said.
India saw a turnaround in monsoon rains — from a nine per cent deficit in June to 13 per cent excess rain in July, the IMD chief said.
The country has recorded 467 mm rainfall against a normal of 445.8 mm in the monsoon season so far, an excess of five per cent.
El Nino — warming of the waters in the Pacific Ocean near South America — has not affected the monsoon rains so far, Mohapatra said.
El Nino is generally associated with the weakening of monsoon winds and dry weather in India.