Northeast India likely to get relief from heavy rains

Despite an El Nino year, June rains were good over most parts of the country due to the MJO (Madden-Julien Oscillation), which travelled through the Indian Ocean and enhanced rainfall activity over the country. For Northeast India, Monsoon rains performed fairly well in June. The region ended with a 1 percent surplus at the end of the month.

However, July saw a significant decline in the rainfall amounts. By the end of the month, East and Northeast India observed a deficit of 9 percent. In the month of August, though many parts of the country experienced subdued rainfall activity, Northeast India received good Monsoon showers.

As on September 2, Arunachal Pradesh has recorded a surplus of 14 per cent in terms of rainfall. Also, Assam and Meghalaya region stand at 1 percent excess. However, the NMMT (Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura), region is 27 percent rain deficient. The performance of Monsoon in Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh has been good, but the NMMT region has observed subdued rainfall activity throughout the season.

Since the past few days, Northeast India has been experiencing good Monsoon showers. The rains have been so heavy in a few areas that a flood like situation occurred in some parts of the region. According to the data available at Skymet, in the last 24 hours from 8:30 am on Wednesday, Cherrapunji recorded 58 mm of rain, Itanagar (38 mm), Silchar (35 mm), Jorhat (33 mm), Pasighat (28 mm), Shillong (12 mm), Guwahati (11 mm), and Dibrugarh (9 mm).

Now, the rainfall activity will decrease over Northeast India as a cyclonic circulation has been formed off the Bangladesh coast and adjoining Northeast Bay of Bengal. Due to this system, moisture-laden winds will get cut off and the moisture feed will decrease over the Northeastern states of India. Due to the reduction in the amount of rainfall, the flood situation prevailing in Assam will also improve gradually.

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