English Article

With A Bang

The southwest monsoon has officially ended in India with 87.4 cm of rainfall between June and September, or just 0.7% short of the historical average of 88 cm. In many ways this was an exceptional year.

                         By August end, India was staring at an all India monsoon rainfall deficit of nearly 9%. This was primarily due to monsoon rain in August, usually the second rainiest month, being short by 24%. Early in the monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast “normal” rains with “a tendency towards the positive side” and the August failure had it backtrack a little. It forecast — correctly in hindsight — strong rains in September but maintained that the overall monsoon rainfall while still “normal” would be towards the lower end. However, September rainfall — 35% more than the monthly normal — was so munificent that it completely closed the deficit and was well beyond the IMD’s expectations. Normally, India gets about 17 cm of rain in September, but at 22.9 cm this year, it was more than the 19 cm in August.