Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Barring the northwestern region, India is set to receive normal rainfall this monsoon season despite the El Nino phenomenon which is set to return after a three-year hiatus.
However, most parts of the country will witness deficient showers in June, except some pockets in peninsular regions such as south Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Ladakh, the India Meteorological Department said on May 26 in its update of the long range forecast for the season.
The weather office said the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean has begun and there was a 90 per cent probability of development of the El Nino phenomenon, which is known to affect monsoon rains in India.
However, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole is likely to develop during the monsoon season which would offset the adverse impact of the El Nino and bring rains to most parts of the country.
Seasonal rainfall over the monsoon core zone consisting of most of the rain-fed agriculture areas in the country is most likely to be normal — 94 to 106 per cent of the long period average.
