According to the India Meteorological Department, the monsoon is likely to enter a partial “break” phase once more, with scanty rainfall expected over northwest and west India for at least a week starting Monday (IMD).
From June 29 to July 11, there was a “break” in monsoon rains, and a very weak monsoon was seen in the first two weeks of August, resulting in a significant deficit in rains for the month across the country. The monsoon returned to northwest India on August 19, but it is expected to wane again by August 24, according to the IMD.
“Heavy rainfall is expected till end of Sunday but rainfall over northwest India is expected to reduce significantly from Monday. We are expecting weak monsoon conditions to set in again for at least 5 days. No major rainfall is expected over the west coast or northwest India but the eastern states particularly northeast will receive rainfall. This is mainly due to shifting of the monsoon trough to the north over the Himalayan foothills. So, the plains will remain largely dry,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, IMD.
“We are entering a partial break monsoon phase. It will be the third during this season. Due to the monsoon trough shifting to the north most parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan will remain dry till the end of month. No significant rain is expected over Gujarat or Maharashtra either. There may be rains over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It will be a partial break in monsoon because rains are expected to continue over east and northeast India,” explained Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate change and meteorology, Skymet Weather.
In August, the country experienced a 26.6 percent rain deficit, with 27.1 percent deficiency in northwest India, 35.4 percent deficiency in central India, 29.9 percent deficiency in the southern peninsula, and 6.6 percent deficiency in east and northeast India. Since June 1, there has been an 8 percent rain deficit across India, with 11 percent deficiency in northwest India, 11 percent deficiency in east and northeast India, 10 percent deficiency in central India, and 4 percent excess in peninsular India.
