India this year recorded the wettest August in 44 years, data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) show, filling agricultural reservoirs and recharging groundwater in large parts of the country, which could help farmers’ prospects for the next agricultural season.
According to the data, there was an overall 25% excess rainfall in August across India, a level not seen since 1976, when the country received 28.4% more rain than usual at this time of year.
Districts in central India, the southern peninsula and the west are now in severe or extremely wet rain categories, as measured by the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) for the cumulative monsoon period since June 1 . “More wet districts are a sign that this is a good year for agriculture and groundwater recharge. The rainwater harvesting potential is also huge for these districts and this will also ensure greater water availability until next year, ”said Pulak Guhathakurta, Director, Climate App and Climate UI, Research and Services at IMD Pune.
SPI is an index used for monitoring droughts. Many parts of northwestern India and eastern India remain in dry and moderately dry categories.
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The greatest excess of rain registered in the month of August so far has been in 1926 with 33%.
This year’s total monsoon rain is 8% more so far, with 23% more rain in the south of the peninsula; 16% excess over central India; 12% deficient in Northwest India and 4% excess in East and Northeast India. The monsoon season runs from the beginning of June to the end of September.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) dam storage position now shows that 34 out of 49 reservoirs are at 90% capacity.
“For most of the districts except a few in Gujarat that are flooded, the rain has been good for agriculture. This will also give agriculture a boost in the next Rabi season. Except in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and western Uttar Pradesh, where rainfall is poor, rest is excessive or of normal category, ”said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of climate change and meteorology at Skymet. Weather.
IMD in its weekly update on Friday said that there will be above-average rains for at least the week through September 3, but the rains are likely to decrease thereafter.
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As on Friday, there is a well-marked low-pressure zone in northern Chhattisgarh, along eastern Madhya Pradesh. It is very likely to move west-northwest through northern Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh over the next 2 days and gradually weaken, the IMD said in its bulletin on Friday morning.
The western end of the monsoon depression, a low pressure band, is in its near-normal position extending from Ganganagar to the Bay of Bengal, while the eastern end is south of its normal position. The western tip is likely to remain in its normal position for the next 2 days and drift north to the foothills of the Himalayas for the next 4-5 days. Due to favorable conditions, widespread rains with very heavy rains are likely to occur over Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh on 28 August; over western Madhya Pradesh on the 28th and 29th; over the state of Gujarat and Konkan and Goa on August 29.
Widespread and extremely heavy rains are highly likely over eastern Madhya Pradesh on August 28, while heavy rains are also likely to occur in northwestern India, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on 28 and August 29.
IMD scientists have warned of landslides and floods in parts of central India, as the soil is already saturated in the regions.
“After a peculiar July in which no low pressure system developed over the Bay of Bengal, five low pressure systems developed over the Bay of Bengal in August. Two of them moved to southern Rajasthan bringing heavy rains on their way, ”said RK Jenamani, senior scientist at the national weather forecast center.
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