The Hindu Business Line : Monsoon turns rampaging current in north, west

THE South-West monsoon has left behind a hesitant start to metamorphose into a rampaging current, producing some of the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the strategically important crop belt in the North and the West.

Meteorological subdivisions of Gujarat, Saurashtra-Kutch-Diu, Madhya Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh were literally pummelled by incessant rain on Wednesday.

The heavy downpour is expected to continue for the next 3-4 days, according to a forecast by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

Rainfall recorded during the 24 hrs ending 8.30 a.m. in cm are:

Gujarat - Songarh (55); Brahampur (49); Gandevi (47); Bansda (44); Madhuban (44); Chikhli (35); Pardi (33); Navsari (32); Valod (32), and Borsad (30). As many as 31 other places in the subdivision recorded rainfall ranging from 10 cm to 29 cm during the same period.

Saurashtra-Kutch-Diu: Khamba (33). Eleven others recorded rainfall ranging from 10 cm to 29 cm.

Orissa: Pallahara (30). Fourteen others recorded rainfall raining from 10 cm to 18 cm.

Madhya Maharashtra: Mahabaleshwar (24).

Chhattisgarh: Bilaspur (28) and Raigarh (19). Three others recorded rainfall ranging from 10 cm to 12 cm.

East Rajasthan: Bagidora (11) and Badhore (10).

The monsoon ran a roller-coaster ride on Wednesday to cover the entire country except some parts of West Rajasthan.

The northern limit passed through Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Ganganagar. Powered by a depression in the East and a cyclonic circulation in the West, its northern limit has progressed beyond where it should normally be positioned by this time of the year. This means that the system is moving westward much quicker, and if sustained, should cover the entire mainland much earlier than the July-15 schedule.

A weather update by the NCMRWF said that Tuesday's depression was stationary and lay centred over Jamshedpur. It is likely to move slowly in west-north-westward direction and weaken in the next 2-3 days.

An upper air cyclonic circulation lay over north Gujarat and adjoining south Rajasthan. Another cyclonic circulation was positioned over west Uttar Pradesh. The line of seasonal trough ran from North Bay of Bengal to west Uttar Pradesh.

Heavy rain to continue: Under the influence of these systems, the ongoing heavy to very heavy rainfall activity is likely to continue over parts of Gujarat and Konkan and Goa during the next 3-4 days. Central India and Indo-Gangetic plains are also likely to enhanced precipitation during the next three days.

Fairly widespread rainfall activity is likely over Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Uttar Pradesh and scattered over Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

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