India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted ‘above-normal’ heatwave days over most parts of east, central and some parts of north-west and peninsular region in May while northwest and west-central parts of the country are likely to see normal to below normal temperature.
“Above-normal heatwave days are expected over most parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, east Uttar Pradesh, coastal Andhra Pradesh and some parts of north Chhattisgarh, east Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and coastal Gujarat during May 2023,” IMD said in its monthly outlook for the temperature and rainfall for the next month.
The weather department also predicted ‘above-normal’ maximum temperatures in most parts of the country, except parts of northwest and peninsular region in May.
On the monsoon prospects, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general, IMD, said that a majority of models indicate El Niño is likely to develop during monsoon season.
“Currently El Nino is at a neutral condition and a moderate El Nino conditions is likely to develop during the later part of monsoon season (June-September), he said.
The Met department has predicted average rainfall in May 2023 is most likely to be in the normal range at 91-109% of the benchmark long period average (LPA). LPA of rainfall in May of 61.4 millimeters is based on average rainfall data of 1971-2020.
Also read: Rural India feeling inflation pressure, says Unilever’s Jope
Recently, IMD, in its first monsoon forecast, has stated southwest monsoon rainfall during June-September is likely to be in the ‘normal’ range at 96% of the benchmark LPA. Rainfall between 96-104% of the LPA is considered ‘normal’. The second monsoon forecast by the Met department will be issued in the last week of May.
Meanwhile, water tables in India’s reservoirs have dropped to a level of 4% below last year’s record-high, amid lingering concerns over heatwaves in many parts of the country. However, no large impact of this on the summer crops is likely, as the stored water is still much above the 10-year average, and is seen to be sufficient to irrigate the rain-fed swathes of the agriculturally important regions.
IMD has predicted below normal rainfall is likely in most parts of north-east India, many parts of east central India and south peninsular India next month. However, normal to above normal rainfall is expected over north-west, many west-central parts and northern part of peninsular India.
Mohapatra had earlier said that there is no one-to-one relation between El Nino and Indian summer rainfall, as out of 15 El Nino years during 1951-2022, there were six years with normal to above normal rainfall.
Stating that currently the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which assists monsoon rain, is in a ‘neutral conditions, Met department has predicted that positive IOD conditions are likely to develop during upcoming season.
Also read: Demand for work under NREGA declines in FY23
According to the Central Water Commission data, water level of the country’s 143 reservoirs stood at 64.13 billion cubic metres (bcm) on Thursday, which is 36% of their combined capacity. A year ago, the water available in these reservoirs was 66.63 bcm, and the average of the last 10 years was 53.38 bcm.
“Current water level of reservoirs was 96% of the live storage of the corresponding period of last year and 120% of storage of the average of the last 10 years,” the CWC stated.
For more latest Economy News Click Here