South India has been receiving widespread light to moderate rain since the last few days, indicating that the Northeast Monsoon is active and is yet to take a breather. Several places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala including Karnataka have received some good rain on Thursday.
In a span of 24 hours from, 8.30 am on Thursday, Chennai has received a whopping 78.1 mm of rain, taking the total rainfall amount in the city to 329.6 mm, which is more than the October average of 286.4 mm. Other places in Tamil Nadu to have received rain are Dharmapuri 19 mm, Coonoor 18.6 mm, Salem 16 mm, Kodaikanal 11 mm and Pamban 8.2 mm.
Rainfall in Kerala has also been light to moderate with Kottayam receiving 29.8 mm of rain, Kozhikode 27.9 mm, Thiruvananthapuram 13.4 mm, Kochi 9.4 mm and Alapuzha 5.9 mm of rain.
Neighbouring Karnataka too received some good rain with Mangalore recording 68.6 mm of heavy rain on Thursday. Agumbe observed 19.8 mm of rain, Karwar 16.4 mm and Bangalore 8 mm of rain.
In view of this rainfall temperatures are below normal by 2-4 degrees at many places in Tamil Nadu. Chennai recorded 29.7°C as the maximum temperature on Thursday, which is one degree below normal. Kodaikanal saw the maximum settle at 15.3°C, which is 2 degrees below normal. In Vellore and Coimbatore the maximums settled at 29.0°C and 30.2°C, which is about 2 degrees below normal.
Meanwhile, this trend of rainfall in South India is expected to continue for some more days as the Northeast Monsoon is likely to remain active.
Heavy rainfall in Chennai
As reiterated by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Chennai has been receiving some very good rain since the last few days. In a span of 24 hours from 8.30 am on Thursday, the city has observed 78.1 mm of rain, which is the second highest rainfall amount recorded during the month so far. The highest has been 115 mm on October 18. The other days when the city experienced good showers was on October 19 (75 mm) and October 21 (24 mm).
The recent spell of rain has pushed the total rainfall amount in Chennai to 329.6 mm, which has reached 115% of the monthly average of 286.4 mm. And with the Northeast Monsoon still active and one more week to go before the month comes to an end, the rainfall figure can exceed even further.
The Northeast Monsoon season from October to December is the time when the state receives its bulk of rain. Rain in Chennai is usually observed in spurts during the initial days of October. It becomes frequent after the actual onset of Northeast Monsoon around October 20 with ± 7 days.
The Northeast Monsoon mainly affects five regions in the southern peninsula- coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and south interior Karnataka, bringing spells of heavy rainfall in these regions.
Indian mustard seed prices are under pressure because of decline in demand from the crushers. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the global production of mustard seed in 2014-15 year is expected to drop by 3.4 per cent to 68.64 million tonnes from 71 million tonnes a year ago.
In view of a looming groundnut harvest shortfall, industry and trade (oil mills, exporters, local traders) dealing in groundnuts and its derivative products have to exercise caution. Indian groundnut shell prices are likely to remain firm and potentially move above the MSP. MSP for kharif season has been kept at Rs 4000 per quintal.
China produced 34.01 million tonnes of early rice in 2014, a decrease of 125,000 tonnes, or 0.4 per cent, from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. China's early rice planting area for 2014 stood at 579.5 million hectares, 0.2 per cent less than last year, with yield per hectare down 0.2 per cent to 5.87 tonne.
Cotton Association of India has said that with cotton crop for the season 2013-14 beginning October 1, 2013 pegged at 40.05 million bales of 170 kilo gram each is set to make India world’s largest cotton producer. As per the estimate of International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) cotton production of China’s for the year 2014-15 would be 6.22 million tonnes.
Northeast Monsoon arrives around 20th October in South India and this year too it knocked on the doorsteps of Tamil Nadu right on time! The arrival not only brought relief from the hot weather conditions but also helped Chennai receive enough rain for the month.
Torrential rain at the beginning of Northeast Monsoon has helped Chennai garner much needed rain for October. The capital city of Tamil Nadu has received 251.5 mm of rain so far, as against the monthly normal rainfall of 286.4 mm.
Northeast Monsoon is a major period of rainfall over south India. Tamil Nadu gets about 50 percent of its annual rainfall during the northeast monsoon season. And Chennai has already received more than 80% of its monthly rainfall.
Chennai received the high rain of 115 mm on 18th, 75 mm on 19th and 24 mm on 21st. In just three days, the city received rainfall that has enabled the ‘Gateway to South India’ inch closer to its monthly rainfall.
With one week more to go in October, Chennai is expected to reach or surpass its mark of normal rainfall.
Northeast Monsoon
The period from October to December is referred as Northeast Monsoon season over peninsular India. The northeast monsoon mainly affects five regions in the southern peninsular- coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and south interior Karnataka, bringing spells of heavy rainfall in these regions.
A fresh Western Disturbance is expected to affect North India October 24 onwards. Currently the system lies as an upper air circulation over northeast Afghanistan and is likely to give rain in Parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The higher reaches could also experience snowfall. Possibility of isolated rain in the plains cannot be ruled out either.
In view of this weather system, night temperatures will rise, while the maximums will experience a drop. Temperatures in the plains including Delhi have been settling close to normal or marginally above normal. The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 33°C as the maximum on Tuesday, which is marginally above normal. Minimum settled at the monthly average of 18°C on Wednesday morning.
Up in the hills, Shimla recorded 21°C as the maximum on Tuesday, which is 3 degrees above normal. Srinagar too saw maximum settle 2 degrees above normal at 22.6°C. This indicates that maximums in the hills have also been recording above normal.
However, these maximums are going to observe a drop as soon as the Western Disturbance approaches Jammu and Kashmir in the next 48-72 hours. Nights could get a little warm with marginal rise in Temperatures. After the passage of the system, minimums will show a falling trend by a couple of degrees but maximums will remain near normal.
Western Disturbances become frequent during winters and are responsible for affecting the weather in the region to a large extent. These system after approaching the region usually stay for 1-2 days and give short spells of rain. These systems are called Western Disturbance due to their movement from west to east.
There is just one day to go before Diwali and a mad rush can be witnessed in the markets of Delhi that are remaining open till late in the evening. Office goers are returning home early to help their families make last minute arrangements for the festival.
Most importantly, shopkeepers are observing a bumper sale, but it's the cracker shops that are having their busiest time of the year. Families along with their children can be seen buying fire crackers in bulk. The little ones are obviously excited but the elders despite knowing the repercussions of burning crackers on our environment are feigning ignorance.
Fire crackers are in fact the single largest factor responsible for high levels of air pollution in the country during Diwali. Crackers emit whole lot of toxic chemicals in the air, and if they are non-branded ones, not complying with government norms then the extent of pollution is very high. We all know how readily these non-branded fire crackers are available in the open market.
This year too Diwali is not going to be any different. The quantity of crackers expected to be burnt during Diwali is going to make Delhi’s air severely polluted. According to the air quality index released by the Centre, Delhi’s air quality is currently hovering in the category range of moderate and very poor.
From October 22 it is going to get even worse with a rapid increase in fine respirable particles (PM2.5). However, the coarse particulate matter (PM10) will observe a slow increase.
Table below explains air quality index
| PM2.5 | |
| 252 and above | Severe |
| 210-251 | Very poor |
| 90-210 | Poor |
| 60-90 | Moderate |
| 30-60 | Satisfactory |
| PM10 | |
| 421 and above | Severe |
| 351-420 | Very poor |
| 151-350 | Poor |
| 101-150 | Moderate |
| 0-100 | Satisfactory |
In the last few days the concentration of fine respirable particles (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter (PM10) has been rising. This can be understood by the data given below.
