Friday, June 6, 2014

Northwest, Central India may witness drought: Skymet


It is only now other agencies are joining the chorus. However IMD has not officially admitted that India has high prospects of severe drought this year. While Skymet now forecast North-West and Central India to be afflicted by drought, we maintain our forecast to include South India as well. 


(MoneyControl) Private weather foreaster Skymet Weather Services has said monsoon has touched upon southern India and rainfall activity in Kerala has been good so far.

The assertion is in direct contrast to India's official weather forecaster Indian Meteorological Department which says Kerala had missed its pre-determined date with Monsoon on June 1 and may hit Kerala coasts on Friday, after a delay of five days.  But Skymet's director GP Sharma maintain their forecast on Kerala has been correct. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he says rainfall activity in the state has been good.

He agrees that monsoon will be weak this year with the country's northwest and the central parts likely to witness drought. He names, Maharashtra, parts of Punjab and Haryana as the possible victims of dry spell. The slowdown in rainfall was predicted due to El Nino which is a weather phenomenon that warms up the temperature of the oceans affecting rainfall in several parts of the world.

According to Sharma, the chances of El Nino are around 70 percent in summers and around 80 percent in winters and is unlikely to have much impact in June and July. However, August may be a crucial month to watch out for. The Indian Meteorological Department had earlier said that rainfall this year will be below expectations. It had forecasted the southwest monsoons at 95 percent of LPA (long period avg) where 96-104 percent of LPA is considered to be normal.

The Indian Meteorological Department had earlier said that rainfall this year will be below expectations. It had forecasted the southwest monsoons at 95 percent of LPA (long period avg) where 96-104 percent of LPA is considered to be normal.



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