Sri Lanka gets fresh spell of heavy rain

A fresh spell of rainfall was witnessed in most parts of Sri Lanka today. While some areas observed very heavy rain, the other regions received light to moderate rain. After the retreat of NE Monsoon, the region has been witnessing isolated light rain for the last couple of weeks. However, the area received very light or no rainfall in the last three to four days. Today, some of the areas in the country observed very heavy rain including Vavuniya where 82.1 mm rainfall was recorded.

The widespread rainfall is due to low level trough which is slowly moving eastwards. Additionally, Sri Lanka gets rain in this period as a result of fluctuations in the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The region will continue to receive rain for the next three to four days. Some of the areas to have received heavy rainfall are Galle, which observed 42 mm of rain, Anuradhapura where 31 mm rain was recorded. Batticaloa also received moderate rain amounting to 30 mm.

The capital city of Sri Lanka, Colombo, also received 28.2 mm of rain. Puttalam and Ratnapura observed light rain, of 16 mm and 15 mm, respectively. This spell is expecting to continue for at least a period of two to three days. It may be noted that Sri Lanka  received very heavy rain during NE monsoon, leading to mudslides & floods.