Countrywide rainfall deficiency comes down to 15%

Heavy rainfall in June left a big surplus to the tune of 16%. Thereafter, intensity of rainfall decreased countrywide. July consumed all the surplus rainfall left over by June. Consequently, by the end of the month cumulative rainfall figure stood at -5%.

August was once again a miss. This Monsoon was one of the rare ones when both July and August failed miserably. Rainfall deficiency exceeded 20% in August. In the recent past, this occurrence took place once in the severe drought year of 2009 and in 1979.

September began on a similar note. Till the second week, the daily rainfall figures were below the normal average for the respective days. Thus, the cumulative rainfall deficiency kept on rising and reached 16% on September 14.

The rainfall deficiency then got arrested in view of the depression over South Chhattisgarh and its neighboring areas. This system has been lingering on for quite some time and has now intensified into a deep depression, lying over Vidarbha and adjoining Chhattisgarh region. Central and Peninsular India have been receiving very good showers. The daily rainfall figure for the country has also been above the normal average.

Click here to know about the latest updates on the Deep Depression

The cumulative rainfall deficiency figure was 16.2% on September 14. It dropped to 16% on September 15 and further to 15.7% on the 16^th and 15.3% on the 17^th. Cumulative surplus or deficiency figure is worked out against the normal Monsoon rain, which is very high at present. Explaining further, the normal average rainfall for the four month long Monsoon season is 889 mm. So far we have received 698.6 mm of rainfall, but normally we should have received 825 mm. Quite understandably, the normal rainfall figures are very high now as we reach the fag end of the season.

Another reason for the gradual decrease in the rainfall deficiency figure is dry weather conditions in Northwest India. A glimpse at the table below could explain this statement better.

Thus, we can say that the subdivision of Northwest India consumed all the rainfall surplus in Central and South India for the last 4 days.

As of now the weather system will sustain strength of a deep depression for another 24 hours. Thereafter, the system will shift west/northwestwards and the intensity will decrease. Accordingly, the rain belt will shift to (in the order mentioned) Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Image credit - LiveMint