Skymet weather

East and Northeast India heading for good showers for next couple of days

Rain in Noprtheast IndiaNortheast India is one of the two heaviest rainfall pockets (other being Western Ghats) of the country. It is a weather sensitive pocket and is specially known for deluge on account of incessant rains. But in the recent past, the region has been observing below normal rainfall, both in pre-monsoon and Southwest Monsoon season, albeit with few exceptions.

The onset of Monsoon in Northeast normally coincides with Kerala and within 5 days speedily covers the entire region. This part of the country receives rain for the entire month of September and at least for the first 10 days of October. The normal date for the withdrawal of Monsoon from East and Northeast is 15th of October. 

Since Northeast India witnesses heavy downpour during the Monsoon months, these places generally have the capacity to absorb any small deficiency. Monthly average rainfall of several places even runs into four digits due to its mountainous terrain with varying heights from valleys to high hills.

Rain deficiency in Northeast

In Northeast India, the sub-division of NMMT (comprising of the states of Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura) witnessed a rain deficiency of 43%, by the end of June. These states continue to be deficit by 28%. Arunachal Pradesh is near normal with a deficiency of just 6%, while Sub Himalayan West Bengal is deficit by 11%. 

This Monsoon season did not even witness any major episode of flooding. Only during the break monsoon condition, Northeast India, Sikkim and Sub Himalayan West Bengal received heavy showers. 

Remnants of Typhoon Kalmaegi will work in tandem with the low pressure area over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast, and bring good showers over East and Northeast India for the next couple days. The system will track towards Jharkhand, Bihar and then re-curve towards Northeast India.

Monsoon deficit still consistent at 5% in South Peninsula

about-to-rain-kerala CroppedSouth Peninsula region, an important contributing factor to country’s monsoon is reeling under a monsoon deficit of 5% consistent for last 18 days, despite light rains.

Monsoon season in India started on a poor note this year, with country witnessing a deficit of 43 per cent for June, the onset month of the monsoon. However, the situation improved in July, reducing the cumulative deficit for the country to 22 per cent. With 17% deficient in August, the rain deficiency finally dipped to 11% due to above normal rains in the first week of September.

The withdrawal effect of southwest monsoon can be seen in South India where sub divisions have observed varied rainfall. While Telangana was the only deficient sub division, others remained normal. A&N Island, Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep were the sub divisions that received rain above normal. Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalseema and Tamil Nadu were the areas witnessing rain below normal this monsoon season.

As southwest monsoon withdraws in India, rain reduces drastically over North West and Central India. Rain however continues in South Peninsula. Moreover, as the rest of the country observes relief from the monsoon rain during October and November, it intensifies in South India due to the onset of Northeast Monsoon that coincides with withdrawal of Southwest monsoon.

Rise in temperature in Delhi indicator of withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon

Delhi heatAfter observing some good weather during the first two weeks of September, the maximum temperature has been rising in Delhi and making the daytime a little uneasy.  However, early morning and evening hours are pleasant and comfortable.This can easily be understood from the fact that the day temperatures are recording close to 36°C, which is about 2 degrees above normal but the minimums have been settling a degree below normal.

The maximum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung Observatory on Thursday was 35.7°C which is a degree above normal, while the minimum settled marginally below normal at 25.3°C. This is one of the features witnessed during the withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon in Delhi. During this time the day temperatures rise and minimums observe a drop due to reversal of winds from southeasterly to northwesterly and absence of cloud cover. The humidity levels have also dropped in the city, which is another factor indicating towards the withdrawal.

Withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon in Delhi usually happens around the third week of September, getting delayed sometimes. In 2013 the withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon in Delhi happened by October 14.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of monsoon has begun from west Rajasthan. It has also retreated from Kutch, parts of Punjab and Haryana. Gradually monsoon will retreat from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and Gujarat in next few days. The usual date of commencement of withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon is  1st of September.

 

Picture courtesy: livemint

Record-breaking summer of extremes in USA

summer extremeThis summer in The United States Of America has been the summer of extremes, breaking numerous records across the country.

June saw a number of records fall in the Midwest and Plains, while July was one of the coolest months on record for many in the Midwest and South. August did see a pattern change from July, bringing a taste of the heat. Flooding was also a big story for the month of August.

Wettest summer

Sioux City, Iowa recorded wettest June-August period with 30.38 inches of rain, smashing the previous record of 20.13 inches set in 2010.

June was the wettest month on record with 16.65 inches and August with 10.12 inches for Siouxland, ranked among the top four wettest months in the records dating to 1889.

Chicago Midway Airport too followed closely with 22.21 inches of rain as against the previous record of 21.69 inches, set in 1993.

Wet & Cool Summer

However, this summer was wet and cool in the Chicago area. The city had only three days of 90 degree temperatures and none of them were consecutive. On average Chicago experience 17 days a year with high temperatures at or above 90 degrees.

There has been a shortage of real heat in the Northeast too where Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh all have not reached 95 degrees this summer.

New York City has not had a heat wave this summer. The last summer when there was no heat wave was 10 years ago in 2004.

Atlanta has only hit 95+ degrees once this summer while the average number of days at or above 95 degrees is 11!

Arkansas had their coolest July on record. Little Rock did not reach 100 degrees through August, the first June-August without a century-mark high since 2009. The yearly average is five such days.

On the contrary, parts of the West have been experiencing one of their hottest summers.

John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, has seen average or above-average temperatures for 117 consecutive days as of August 31. This is the longest streak in the country at an airport location.

August Records

The second full week in August saw historic flooding in multiple metro areas. First up was Detroit when 4.57 inches of rain fell in on August 11, setting a daily rainfall record.

The next day, on August 12, 6.30 inches of rain was reported in Baltimore, Maryland, setting a daily rainfall record and it was also the second-heaviest calendar-day rainfall amount just behind 7.62 inches that fell on August 23, 1933 during the Great Hurricane.

Islip, New York broke the New York State 24-hour precipitation record the following day, on August 13, when they received 13.57 inches of rain. The previous record was 11.6 inches at Tannersville, New York during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011.

Otherwise, warmer temperatures were felt by most of the country, especially compared with the record cool temperatures seen in July.

Finally, while not a typically an active month for tornadoes, the U.S. tornado count in August was the lowest since the 1960s.

pic courtesy : Accuweather

Good rain likely in Kolkata but monthly average to remain far fetched

Rain in KolkataThe state of West Bengal has not fared well in terms of Monsoon rain this year. The percentage of cumulative rain deficiency in the sub-division of Gangetic West Bengal has recovered much in last few weeks and now stands at 16%. The month of September started on a good note and fairly good showers were witnessed. The month began with a deficiency of 12% and even came down to 10%.

The city of Kolkata normally receives about 313 mm of rain in the month of September. On the first 3 days of the month, Kolkata received 10 mm, 31 mm and 25 mm of rain, respectively. Rainfall reduced thereafter, and the ‘City of Joy’ did experience rainy days but recorded only single digit rainfall.

The city has received 110 mm of rain so far and we can expect and we can expect some good showers in the coming days. Remnants of Typhoon Kalmaegi will work in tandem with the system over Bay of Bengal to bring good showers over East and Northeast India. However, Kolkata is unlikely to reach the monthly average and could also remain below the last 10 year’s lowest of 259 mm in 2005.

kokataRain will start reducing from the 23rd of September, way ahead of Durga Puja celebrations in the city. Rain is not likely to play a spoilsport as Ma Durga will be worshiped across the city but humidity could be a botheration. According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, in the absence of rain, weather will be hot and humid with maximum in mid-thirties and minimums in mid-twenties.

 

 

 

 

Pleasant weather to greet athletes in Incheon, XVII Asiad

11 CroppedWith a day left for the Asian Games to kick off, mildly cool weather in Incheon is all set to welcome the players from across the globe. Though the weather will not be adversely affecting the boxers who would sweat it out inside the ring, the cool weather will be favourable for the performance of athletes. However, the autumn breeze is expected to be helpful for speedy canoe, rowing and sailing competition in Incheon, South Korea.

Incheon Asian Games

The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII Asiad, is the largest sporting event in Asia governed by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It is scheduled to take place in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 – October 4, 2014, with 439 events in 36 sports and disciplines set to feature in the Games.

Incheon was awarded the right on April 17, 2007, defeating Delhi, India to host the Games. Incheon is the third city in South Korea after Seoul (1986) and Busan (2002) to host the Asian Games.

Climate & Weather

Incheon has a humid continental climate. Incheon's climate is about average compared to the rest of Korea, with 8 locations being cooler and 10 locations being warmer, and with 9 locations being wetter and 9 locations being drier.

Incheon experiences each of its four seasons, distinctly feeling the rise and fall of temperature and humidity. The temperature however, never rises to an extreme, and the climate of the city is essentially mild. Incheon is swept by the seasonal winds as the northwesterly winds strike the city in the winter and the summer in Incheon is affected by gusts of the warm southwesterly winds.

This is just the right time for outdoor sports, as during the period of games temperature & humidity will be in the comfortable zone. With plenty of sunshine, temperatures will have an average high of 22-230 C & a low of around 140 C. Humidity will hover around 70%. Rain is likely on 24th & 26th September, while it will be cloudy during 2-4 October.

Excess rainfall sub-division of South Interior Karnataka turns normal

Karnataka rainThe state of Karnataka is meteorologically divided into three sub-divisions, North Interior, South Interior and Coastal Karnataka. The maximum amount of seasonal rain, 3000 mm is observed in coastal Karnataka followed by South Interior Karnataka, which observes 660 mm of rain. With 550 mm, North Interior Karnataka experiences the lowest rainfall.

During the entire Monsoon season, South Interior Karnataka has been witnessing huge fluctuation in rainfall amounts. In June when rainfall was poor across the country the deficit in North Interior Karnataka was 52%, Coastal Karnataka 43% and South Interior Karnataka 24%, which is close to normal of +-19%. Thereafter, all the three sub-divisions recovered in July and almost became normal. South Interior Karnataka was surplus by 11% during this month.

By the third week of August, South Interior Karnataka was the only sub-division observing excess rainfall by 20%. It continued to remain excess till the 15th of September. On 7th September it was excess by 24% after which a gradual decline started. The reason for this decline was decrease in rainfall across peninsular India. For the last 4-5 days this region is observing 50% of its daily rainfall thereby, consuming the surplus amount. According to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, rainfall amounts in South Interior Karnataka may take a further dip.

Monsoon in India is almost going to conclude and there isn't hope of any sub-division being surplus this monsoon season. According to the data available with Skymet Meteorology Division in India, there were 7 sub-divisions that were surplus in 2011, when the country had experienced 102% of the Long Period Average (LPA) rainfall. In 2012, which was a year of poor monsoon rain, there was one sub-division, Andaman and Nicobar Islands that was surplus. In 2013, there were 14 surplus sub-divisions and the LPA was 106%.

Picture courtesy: udupitoday.com







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