Three more weeks of the pre-monsoon season — March to May — are still left. But, rainfall data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows large parts of the country have already received way beyond their normal share of the pre-monsoon showers. The data showed India has received 101. 3 mm rainfall as against the normal of 77.7 mm, around 30 per cent excess rainfall so far during pre monsoon season , with the central region gauging precipitation 268 per cent above normal while East and northeast India recorded 29 per cent rain deficit -- 141.5 mm against the normal of 199.9 mm -- from March 1 to May 3.
Of the total 717 districts across the 36 meteorological subdivisions in the country, 446 have received ‘large excess’ rainfall between March 1 and May 5 this year while 59 districts have received excess rain while 89 received normal rainfall during the pre monsoon season. In other words, 16 subdivisions in 36 meteorological subdivisions have receieved ‘large excess’; two subdivision received ‘excess’ rains while five of them received ‘normal’ rainfall so far.
Northwest India, i.E. Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand, recorded 21 per cent more rainfall (102.8 mm against the normal of 85.21 mm), while the peninsular region received 91 per cent excess rain (110.9 mm against the normal of 58.1 mm) during this period.
Central India, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, recorded 268 per cent surplus rainfall – 71.1 mm against the normal of 19.3 mm. Starting April 21-22, large parts of the country, barring the eastern and northeastern parts, experienced a prolonged wet spell owing to several back-to-back weather systems.
As a result, most parts of the country experienced significantly lower-than-normal day temperatures during the period. According to the IMD, not a single place in India has reported a heatwave since April 21.A senior IMD scientist said such a long period without heatwaves in April and May is “very rare”. May typically sees the highest number of heatwave days in India. During the month, temperatures can soar above 45 degrees Celsius, particularly in the north, northwest and central parts of the country.