The Hindu Business Line : Rain belt shifting to east again

THE wet weather unleashed by a resurgent monsoon may now be getting concentrated over central India, but the opening spell in the moisture-stressed northwest has helped shave off three per cent from the all-India rainfall deficit up till September 14.

The wet session has been active for two more days hence, and it is hoped that the northwest would have further improved its position. As per India Meteorological Department (IMD) statistics, the overall deficit had improved to five per cent (from eight per cent in the previous week).

The actual area-weighted all-India rainfall till September 14 was 772.8 mm against a normal of 811.6 mm.

A weather update from the National centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) said that fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy showers occurred over coastal Orissa, north Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh during the 24 hours ending Sunday morning.

Scattered light to moderate rainfall has been reported from the rest of the country outside the Northeastern States, Bihar, remaining Andhra Pradesh, interior Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Saturday's depression over northwest Bay of Bengal moved in a westerly direction and has intensified into a deep depression. The system lay around 100 km east of Paradip on Sunday. It is likely to move slowly in northwesterly direction and cross the Orissa coast by the night.

Strong winds with gusts ranging from 55-60 kmph are likely along coastal Orissa, coastal West Bengal and extreme north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The system is likely to move towards west Madhya Pradesh and adjoining east Rajasthan/southwest Uttar Pradesh region by Friday/ Saturday next.

The system is likely to remain strong at least for the next two days, become weaker but is expected to remain as a well-marked low-pressure area until the weekend.

Under these conditions, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy showers is likely over Orissa, Gangetic West Bengal, north coastal Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh over the next two days. Subsequently, the heavy rainfall zone is expected to shift over to Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Vidarbha.

Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is likely over Marathwada, Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, North Interior Karnataka, East Rajasthan and Jharkhand during the same period.

Saturday's `low' over West Uttar Pradesh and neighbourhood has become less marked.

The low-pressure area over Gujarat and adjoining south Rajasthan has also become less marked.

The associated upper air cyclonic circulation persists and likely to cause fairly widespread rains with isolated heavy rainfall over Gujarat and south Rajasthan during the next two days.

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