New Delhi
Rainfall during August and September, the second half of the four-month rainfall season, is likely to be on the higher side of normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.
In another forecast for August, IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said monsoon is also likely to be normal in the month.
West Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Rajasthan, parts of interior Maharashtra, J&K, Ladakh, some parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are likely to receive below normal rainfall in August, Mohapatra said.
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, central Maharashtra, south Gujarat, northeastern states, Bihar are likely to receive above-normal rainfall during the month, he added.
"The 2021 August to September rainfall averaged over the country as a whole is most likely to be normal (95 to 105 per cent of Long Period Average or LPA) with a tendency to be on the positive side of the normal," Mohapatra said at an online briefing.
The LPA of the August to September period rainfall over the country as a whole for the years 1961-2010 is 428.3 mm.
Every year, the IMD issues forecast for the second half of the Southwest Monsoon, for August and September.
The spatial distribution suggests that below normal to normal rainfall is likely over many parts of the north, east and northeast parts of the country. Normal to above normal rainfall is most likely to be experienced over most parts of peninsular India and adjacent central India, the IMD said.
The IMD has also started issuing a month-wise forecast for the four-month rainfall season from this year.
For August, it said, "Rainfall averaged over the country as a whole is most likely to be normal (94 to 106 per cent of LPA)."
The LPA of the August rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1961-2010 is 258.1 mm.
The spatial distribution suggests that below normal to normal rainfall is likely over many areas of central India and some areas over north India.