Despite deluge, 19 districts in Tamil Nadu face deficit rainfall

CHENNAI: Though the ongoing northeast monsoon did bring copious rains and overall Tamil Nadu is trailing by only 2 per cent as on date, there is an east-west skew.For, the monsoon has been indifferent to as many as 19 districts, mostly interior parts of the State. Statistically, the monsoon draws to a close by December 31 and the current dry spell is likely to prolong for a week.So, weather experts say the last week of December will determine the overall performance of the monsoon.

In the last two days, none of the weather stations in the State recorded any rainfall. Meteorologists say there is no rain-bearing system brewing in the Bay of Bengal at least for a week to bring widespread rainfall.Also, despite Chennai receiving excess rainfall, the combined storage level of the four major reservoirs of the city has only reached 50 per cent of their total capacity.
YEA Raj, former deputy director-general of meteorology, told The New Indian Express this year’s monsoon may not be an exceptional one for the entire State, though many districts received excess rain compared to their seasonal forecast.

“Yes, the interior parts have received below-normal rains. Usually, interior parts receive maximum seasonal rains in October and in the first half of November. But, this time monsoon arrived only in the first week of November and none of the weather systems moved into the State to trigger widespread rains,” he said.However, he refused to write off the possibility of good rainfall activity during December-end. In 2011, cyclone Thane occurred at December-end, which brought copious rainfall. Tamil Nadu needs 4 cm rainfall to bridge the deficit.