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Summer heat missing over India as Cyclone Tauktae caused ‘large excess’ rain this May
THIS MAY has been anything but a dry, hot and arid month over most parts of India.
In less than 10 days to turn over to June, the country is yet to experience a heat wave and, instead, has received continuous rain to date.
Though thunderstorm activities have continued since April over South, West and central India regions, the weather became more pronounced during the week between May 13 and 19, coinciding with the crossing of the ‘extremely severe storm’ Tauktae close to Diu in Gujarat on May 17.
“Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra came under the influence of the storm and experienced heavy to extremely heavy rain between May 12 and 18,” said Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general, IMD.
The storm hurtled past in a parallel manner along the West coast before it dumped heavy spells over Gujarat. Furthermore, the system advanced as a depression and later as a low pressure over Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, continuing to cause widespread heavy showers.
Meteorological data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show that both maximum temperature and rainfall records for May were surpassed at several places, including Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, and over stations in Gujarat.
On May 19, Delhi recorded its coolest day in May at 23.8 degrees Celsius, in 70 years. Likewise, maximum temperatures recorded at Pune and Mumbai on May 17 were 28.1 degrees and 26.9 degrees Celsius, respectively.
During May 13 to 19, arid deserts of Kutch, Saurashtra and Rajasthan along with Gujarat recorded maximum rainfall surplus. Against a normal of 0.1 mm, Gujarat recorded 46.5 mm making it a 10,000 per cent above normal for a week.
Recording 991 per cent above normal rain during the last seven days, Rajasthan’s weekly rain stood at 26.2 mm. Likewise, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala, too, were among high-surplus rainfall category states last week.
These areas do not, normally, receive any rain and remain largely dry throughout the summer season. Rainfall arrives with monsoon reaching parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan between late June and mid-July. As the rainfall figures are negligible, heavy rainfall will reflect as a high surplus, said an IMD official.
Finer look into the rainfall recorded at 36 meteorological sub-divisions between May 13 and 19 suggest that 20 of these recorded ‘large excess’ rainfall. Six and four sub-divisions reported ‘normal’ and ‘excess’ rain, respectively.
All this surplus rainfall helped the country as a whole clock 127 per cent surplus rainfall bringing the overall pre-monsoon season (March 1 to May 19 ) to normal.
In less than 10 days to turn over to June, the country is yet to experience a heat wave and, instead, has received continuous rain to date.
Though thunderstorm activities have continued since April over South, West and central India regions, the weather became more pronounced during the week between May 13 and 19, coinciding with the crossing of the ‘extremely severe storm’ Tauktae close to Diu in Gujarat on May 17.
“Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra came under the influence of the storm and experienced heavy to extremely heavy rain between May 12 and 18,” said Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general, IMD.
The storm hurtled past in a parallel manner along the West coast before it dumped heavy spells over Gujarat. Furthermore, the system advanced as a depression and later as a low pressure over Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, continuing to cause widespread heavy showers.
Meteorological data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show that both maximum temperature and rainfall records for May were surpassed at several places, including Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, and over stations in Gujarat.
On May 19, Delhi recorded its coolest day in May at 23.8 degrees Celsius, in 70 years. Likewise, maximum temperatures recorded at Pune and Mumbai on May 17 were 28.1 degrees and 26.9 degrees Celsius, respectively.
During May 13 to 19, arid deserts of Kutch, Saurashtra and Rajasthan along with Gujarat recorded maximum rainfall surplus. Against a normal of 0.1 mm, Gujarat recorded 46.5 mm making it a 10,000 per cent above normal for a week.
Recording 991 per cent above normal rain during the last seven days, Rajasthan’s weekly rain stood at 26.2 mm. Likewise, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala, too, were among high-surplus rainfall category states last week.
These areas do not, normally, receive any rain and remain largely dry throughout the summer season. Rainfall arrives with monsoon reaching parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan between late June and mid-July. As the rainfall figures are negligible, heavy rainfall will reflect as a high surplus, said an IMD official.
Finer look into the rainfall recorded at 36 meteorological sub-divisions between May 13 and 19 suggest that 20 of these recorded ‘large excess’ rainfall. Six and four sub-divisions reported ‘normal’ and ‘excess’ rain, respectively.
All this surplus rainfall helped the country as a whole clock 127 per cent surplus rainfall bringing the overall pre-monsoon season (March 1 to May 19 ) to normal.