9 Tamil Nadu districts to get above normal rainfall

COIMBATORE: Except for nine districts, remaining 29 districts will witness normal rainfall during the southwest monsoon season this year, as per the predictions of the Agro Climate research Centre (ACRC) of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here.
Dindigul (350mm), Theni (245mm), Tenkasi (200mm), Tuticorin (75mm), Tirunelveli (160mm), Kanyakumari (610mm), Tiruvannamalai (505mm), Kancheepuram (560mm) and Tiruvallur (540mm) are predicted to get above normal rainfall between June and September.
While Coimbatore is expected to receive 230mm of rain, against the average 210mm, Tirupur is expected to get 150mm against 151mm. Erode is expected to get 255mm against 260mm and Salem 450mm against 421mm.
Deviation up to 10% compared to normal rain (30 years data) is considered normal rain. When the rain is more than 10% norm, it would be considered above normal, a faculty member said.
ACRC generated the forecast by studying the southern oscillation index and sea surface temperature of Pacific and Indian oceans. “We used the Australian Rainman International software to analyse the long period average weather parameters to generated the forecast,” ACRC head S P Ramanathan said.
Tamil Nadu receives most of its rain from the northeast monsoon. However, the southwest monsoon is crucial for improving or maintaining the groundwater table.
Farmers have been urged to take up cultivation based on the prediction.