Normal or below normal rainfall expected this year in Bihar

PATNA: The monsoon rainfall in Bihar is expected to be normal or below normal, as per the long-range forecast (LRF) issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday.
As per the Patna Meteorological Centre, rainfall during the monsoon months of June, July, August and September is likely to be either normal or less than normal of the long period average.
Last year, Bihar faced 31% deficient rainfall in the monsoon season, which was the lowest since 2012.
Elaborating on the monsoon rainfall expected this year, Ashish Kumar Singh, a scientist at Patna Meteorological Centre, said: "The global weather phenomena and the data based on our climatological model indicate that Bihar is likely to have normal to slightly below normal rainfall this year."
According to the forecast, La Nina (periodic cooling of sea-surface temperatures) is currently neutral in the equatorial Pacific, but El Nino (above-average sea-surface temperatures) conditions are likely to develop during the monsoon season.
"Most of the times, the La Nina gets converted into El Nino during the monsoon season and its impact on the climate leads to subdued rainfall activities," Ashish said.
The IMD will release quantitative data of the rainfall predictions for the state in May.