New Delhi, Jan 1 Minimum temperatures are expected to be higher than normal in most parts of India in January, except in some areas of eastern, northwes..
Schools in Chennai are closed today as heavy rainfall is forecasted across Tamil Nadu. The IMD warns of increased rain due to a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal.
The country ended August with a cumulative rainfall of 6.9 percent above normal since start of the monsoon season.
In its latest bulletin, the IMD has issued forecasts for various weather phenomena across the country.
The IMD forecast of below-normal rains in August does not dispel gloom for the rural economy just yet. However, pulses will continue to be a cause of concern. Inflation could remain sticky and farm incomes uncertain. Moneycontrol's Shweta Punj catches up with DS Pai, IMD senior scientist, Gunvant Patil Hangargekar, General Secretary, AIKCC and Pushan Sharma, Director CRISIL to discuss the impact. Tune in.
Himachal rains Highlights: A large number of roads and bridges have been damaged in flooding. The estimated damage to infrastructure is speculated at Rs 1,800-2,000 crore
Amid bountiful rains, the Safdarjung Observatory did not record any heat wave day in the summer season (April to June) this year for the first time since 2011.
Under its influence, a low-pressure area is expected to form over the same area around May 7 and then consolidate into a depression over the Southeast Bay of Bengal by May 8.
The likelihood of normal to above-average rainfall is 67%, said M. Mohapatra, IMD's director general of meteorology.
Companies across several industries such as agriculture, aviation, sports, mining, and retail will be closely watching the weather forecast to help gauge the expectations from this year's monsoon.
Unseasonal rainfall and hail were reported in several parts of Maharashtra last week, damaging rabi crops at a time worries about a possible food inflation mount.
IMD has forecast scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and hailstorms over the western Himalayan region till Monday. Here are more details
Temperatures are likely to settle above normal from March to May as a whole for most parts of India, barring southern parts of the country, says IMD.
"Except peninsular parts, all parts are likely to have above normal temperature," the Indian meteorological department said.
In a special forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the Red Fort area could experience a generally cloudy sky with light rain in the morning hours between 6 AM and 12 noon.
In a tweet, the IMD noted that thunderstorm activity accompanied by isolated heavy showers would continue over North, Central, and East India in the coming two days.
Northwest India was reeling under a heatwave spell since June 2 and central India since June 10 due to an onslaught of hot and dry westerly winds.
According to the IMD, the maximum temperature in Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India will come down by a few notches over the weekend but no major relief is likely till June 15.
The central parts of the country including Chhattisgarh, Odisha and East Madhya Pradesh may have to wait longer than normal for the first monsoon showers, according to Skymet Weather.
IMD has sounded an orange alert till May 16 for very heavy rainfall in six districts of Kerala. The weatherman has also issued a red alert for Ernakulam and Idukki districts of Kerala indicating extremely heavy rainfall.
RK Jenamani, a senior scientist at the weather office, said that the heatwave is over in most parts of India including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Kerala is currently on high alert due to the oncoming cyclone Tauktae.
The last time monsoons arrived this late (on June 28) was in 1974
Skymet said the monsoon this year could be 100 percent of the long period average (LPA) with a model error of plus and minus 5 percent