Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The overall monsoon across the country is “most likely” to be normal this season but it will be below normal over north and south India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its forecast Friday.
The El-Nino phenomenon, generally believed to have its impact on monsoon, will continue during the rainy season. However, there is a possibility of these conditions to turn neutral during the later part of the rainfall season, the IMD said.
The El-Nino is linked to the heating of Pacific waters. Monsoon is likely to be below normal in July and normal in August. “Rainfall over the country as a whole for the 2019 southwest monsoon season is most likely to be normal,” the Met said.
It is likely to be 96 per cent of the Long Period Average. The LPA over the country as a whole from 1951-2000 is 89 centimeters. Anything between 96-104 per cent of the LPA is normal. Monsoon is categorised as below normal if the LPA is between 90-96 per cent and classified as deficient, if below that.
The northwest India sub-division of the IMD covers the entire north India, while the central India subdivision encompasses states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
