World coffee exports totalled 9.73 million bags (60-kg each) in July, up 3.7 percent from the same month last year, the International Coffee Organization said. For the first 10 months of the 2013-14 season, which began on 1st of October, coffee exports were down by 2.0 percent at 92.26 million bags, International Coffee Organization data showed.
Monsoon in India began on a very poor note with the cumulative rain deficit in June being 43%. In fact the deficit maintained levels till the 12th of July after which some good rain pulled it down to 22%. August was the best month in terms of rain across the country and the deficit plummeted to 9.3% during the month.
August received 236.8 mm of rain against the monthly average of 261 mm. There were 9 days of above normal rain, while 22 days the rainfall was below normal.
There was some good rain observed in most parts of the country during August, except for the plains of North India. Punjab was scanty at 65%, while Haryana and Chandigarh was 66% scanty. The overall deficit in the plains of North India has also increased.
Maharashtra saw some good improvement during this month. The deficit of 58% in the Marathwada sub-division came down to 39%. Madhya Maharashtra saw a rapid recovery from 21% to 4% and is now inching towards normal. Vidarbha is still deficit by 25%.
Northeast India also saw some improvement during this month. Assam is normal with a rain deficiency of 16%, while Arunachal Pradesh is normal with 4% surplus rain. However, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura (NMMT) is still deficit by 37%.
South India made a decent recovery with sub-divisions like North Interior Karnataka and South Interior Karnataka wiping out the deficit. While North Interior Karnataka became normal with surplus rain of 9%, South Interior Karnataka is excess by 22%.
However, the national cumulative rain deficit from 1st June till date stands at 17%. It is to be noted that the average monthly rainfall in September for the country is a paltry 173 mm; therefore forecast of good rain in the first week of September will not be able to wipe out any substantial deficit.
That beach holiday can still be on the cards as the monsoon seems to be on a high note in the land of sun, sea and sand – Goa. As the city receives good rain of 987.6 mm in August, it surpasses the monthly average rain by a surplus of 40%.
Goa is one of the rainiest pockets of Monsoon in India, even with regard to other places along the west coast. With 900 mm of rain on an average, July is the rainiest month. August receives good showers of 591 mm and rain continues as Southwest Monsoon withdraws in September as well. Weather during this time remains pleasant with maximums in higher twenties. The weather starts heating up by mid-September and given the humidity, even 32°C seems uncomfortable.
With 987.6 mm of rain this month, Goa has left the monthly average of 591 mm far behind and rain has been 40% above normal.
The city's all-time highest August rain is 1721 mm, recorded in 1953. The lowest is 264 mm observed in the drought year of 2009.
As the withdrawal month of monsoon approaches, Skymet meteorology division in India expects Goa to witness a mix of pleasant and sunny days. The temperature will rise marginally in September but Goa will continue to enthrall tourists with its endless natural charms.
Southwest Monsoon is a four month long season over the Indian region spanning from June to September, with a Long Period Average (LPA) of 89 cm of rain for this period. Monsoon in India could be conceived as a complex phenomenon, inherited with a variety of phases ranging from active Monsoon to weak, lull, break and the like.
Southwest Monsoon, after ushering in made a sluggish start with subdued activity in the initial phase and made a very slow advancement. After poor Monsoon rains in June, July too commenced with a 43% deficit – highest for the season - and remained so till 12th July. The month ended with a cumulative deficieny of 22% while at present rain deficit stands at 17%.
Monsoon remained extremely weak in terms of both intensity and coverage till mid-July, particularly in northwestern parts, Gujarat and Central India. Central region, including Gujarat, made an astonishing recovery but nothing similar can be said about Northwest India.
June is the onset month which witnesses an outburst of rain while, September is the withdrawal month, receiving more of sporadic rain. July and August are generally the active Monsoon months for the entire country.
Southern parts of the country enjoy the complete four month duration of Monsoon, whereas North India actively observes only about two months of rainy season, before it recedes in September.
Conditions for withdrawal of Monsoon
Withdrawal is generally not attempted before 1st of September and commences from extreme west Rajasthan.
As Southwest Monsoon approaches the withdrawal phase from a particular region, certain conditions become prevalent- change of wind pattern, reduction in cloud cover, decrease in humidity, cessation of rain and temporary rising tendency of temperatures.
Comparison between 2013 and 2014
2013- Last year withdrawal began quite late around 18th September from west Rajasthan, against the normal date of 1st September. Monsoon generally bids farewell from Delhi/NCR and other northern plains by 3rd week of September but was delayed till about 16th October. Consequently, it was delayed from Central and East India as well.
2014- It’s the first day of September but there seems no signs of withdrawal in the coming few days. As per latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, a series of cyclonic circulations or Monsoon systems will make their way up to Rajasthan for the entire week. The withdrawal may not commence on the lines of last year but is surely going to surpass the first week.
Picture courtesy- dandapani
The north-central plains of United States face the fury of a severe cold front on Labor Day. Thunderstorms are expected to spearhead the cold front, which will move in from Michigan across to Missouri this afternoon. Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis seems to be directly in the path of this cluster of storms that'll roll through the state. Heavy downpours leading to excessive flooding, damage from gusting winds and large hail along with frequent lightning is forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours.
Heavy rainfall, enough to cause flooding, would be witnessed through the night whereas thunderstorms with frequent lightning during daytime will shatter all plans for any outdoor labor Day celebrations.
There is also a threat of short-lived tornados as some parts of this weather system may be strong enough to spin-up whirlwinds. But these would be isolated events.
This severe weather threat is slated to shift eastwards to the mid-Atlantic post noon on Tuesday.
Labor Day in the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.
Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Massacre, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Thus, in 1887, it was established as an official holiday in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored. (Labor Day info source: wikipedia)
The last few days of August came as a boon for Delhiites in terms of rain and drop in temperatures. The city received about 20 mm of rain in the last 3 days of the month, taking the total monthly rainfall figure to 139.8 mm.
But this figure is still far behind the monthly average of 253.4 mm, which clearly explains how the weather in Delhi has been this August. Out of 11 rainy days (2.5 mm and above) the city has observed only 4 days of Monsoon rain.
From the 12th till the 28th of August there wasn’t any rain witnessed in the city, which makes it the longest spell (17 days) of dry weather in Delhi. There has been only three occasions when the city has recorded double digit rainfall during the month. On 3rd August the Safdarjung Observatory had recorded 38 mm of rain, while 82 mm of rain was recorded on the 11th of August and 10 mm on 30th August. This shows that rainfall was not evenly distributed in space and time.
Due to lack of rain temperatures were also on a record breaking spree. The Safdarjung Observatory on 26th August had broken 20-year-old record by observing a maximum of 39.4°C. Maximums were consistently recording 5-6 degrees above normal before the spell of rain on the 28th of August.
Forecast of more rain
However, September has started off on a good note. In a span of 24 hours, from 8.30 am on Sunday the city has recorded 35.8 mm of rain. And according to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the city will continue to receive rain for a week. On the 4th and 5th September there could be some good rain in Delhi say Skymet forecasters.
September is the retreating phase of the Monsoon therefore the average monthly rainfall for the month is 120.9 mm, far below August rainfall of 253.4 mm.
Even though Mumbai misses its monthly average rain for August, September commences on a positive note. With nearly one-third of normal rainfall for September received on the first day itself, Monsoon in Mumbai hopes to garner a big thumbs up.
Today, the maximum city of India opened its eyes to a spell of good rain which was 116 mm. Had this spell occurred one day earlier, Mumbai would have succeeded in covering its monthly average for August.
Despite the fact that it rained almost every day in August, the city of dreams failed to cover its monthly average. It only received 456.7 mm of rain as against the monthly average of 529.7 mm, thus falling short by 13 percent. However, the nearby cities including Goa and Ratnagiri received good rain showers for the same month.
The situation remained two-fold in Mumbai. On one side it rained almost every day in Mumbai, on the other not a single day received rain crossing a three digit mark. The highest during August was just on 1st August when Mumbai received rain of 88 mm.
Yet August 2014 was definitely better than the last two years as August 2013 recorded monthly rain of 256.3 mm and August 2012 recorded a total of 377.1 mm of rain.
While August was grim, July this year was still better as the city received record breaking rainfall of 1461 mm in July against the long period average of 800 mm.
Barring all of this, the skies in September will be open for downpour in Mumbai. So if August was not good enough, you can certainly go for walk down the promenades of Marine Drive.
Southwest Monsoon rainfall over the country remained highly deficit in June and below normal in July. Consequently, month of August inherited a cumulative deficiency of 22%. Courtesy some good rains over Northeast India and along the west coast, the deficit as of 29th August stood at 18.2%. A substantial portion of these heavy rains may not be called `productive` as most of it either ran down the slopes of Meghalaya to Bangladesh or resulted in flood like situation due to swelling of rivers , particularly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
Overall, there is no big recovery witnessed even in August, wherein the month as such remains deficit by 11.3% as on 29th August, 2014. 7 out of 29 days of August observed rainfall in excess of daily average whereas, rest of 22 days, it remained deficient. The surplus rainfall on these 7 days was also mostly confined to Northeastern parts at locations like Cherrapunji, Shillong, Pasighat and few other stations along the western coast. Most parts of Central and Northern India observed arid conditions and remained devoid of any significant activity.
Daily average and actual rainfall figures for the country in the last few days are given below:
| Date | Average R/F(mm) | Actual R/F(mm) | Cumulative RF Deficiency |
| 16Aug | 9.1 | 9 | 16% |
| 17Aug | 8.5 | 5.5 | 17% |
| 18Aug | 8.2 | 3.3 | 17% |
| 19Aug | 8.1 | 4.7 | 18% |
| 20Aug | 7.9 | 4.1 | 18% |
| 21Aug | 8.0 | 3.3 | 18% |
| 22Aug | 8.2 | 6.1 | 19% |
| 23Aug | 8.3 | 8.3 | 18% |
| 24Aug | 7.9 | 5.6 | 18% |
| 25Aug | 7.5 | 6.7 | 18% |
| 26Aug | 7.2 | 6.7 | 18% |
| 27Aug | 7.6 | 5.6 | 18% |
| 28Aug | 7.4 | 6.8 | 18% |
This goes on to explain the subdued rainfall over the country in the last fortnight or so. Projected rainfall for the month appears to be less than the normal. This will earn the season, a distinction of having a shortfall in all the three months of June, July and August. Such occasions are not very common to find on records. They are also indicative of season remaining deficit by a sizeable margin, possibly exceeding 10%, which is an essential condition to be fulfilled for drought.
