Disturbance stirs up strong winds and heavy rains
Sri Lanka is experiencing weather extremes ranging from warm afternoons and isolated heavy rains to misty and cold mornings, along with the lingering drought. In some areas, strong winds of up to 45 kilometres per hour have damaged homes.
The Meteorology Department said the prevailing cloudy and rainy weather is temporary and caused by “a wave type disturbance’’ affecting the southern region.
This weather phenomenon is expected to bring rain to many parts of the country. While heavy rains are forecast for the south for a few days, strong winds will affect northern areas.
Rainfall of about 100 millimetres is f ore c a s t f or Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces as well as Ampara, Batticaloa, Galle, Kalutara and Matara districts.
Sporadic showers and thundershowers will occur at times in Polonnaruwa, Matale and Kurunegala districts, the weather watchers predict.
Drought- stricken Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Mannar districts will receive rains for a few days as a result of the prevailing atmospheric disturbance. Drought conditions are expected to continue until the inter- monsoon season which is expected to start by the end of this month, the Department of Meteorology said.
However, a duty meteorologist said the warm weather will continue as soon as this brief period of rain ends.
According to the Disaster Management Centre, more than 400,000 people are suffering from the drought in six districts.
Puttalam and Kurunegala are the worst hit districts with 315,530 people badly affected by the continuing extreme dry spell. In Kurunegala this week, the temperature climbed to a high of 36.3 degrees Celsius.
Strong winds recently caused damage in Ya t i y a n t o t a , Bulathkohupitiya, Deraniyagala areas, while Mawanella and Aranayake areas experienced thunderstorms early this month. Heavy rain and strong winds damaged a number of houses and displaced more than 2000 people in Kalmunai.
Similarly, strong winds blew across Marimepattu in Mullaitivu and Manmunai in Batticaloa. The areas were also inundated by heavy rains earlier this month.
Meanwhile, water levels of reservoirs are unsatisfactory, the Irrigation Department warned.
Director (water management), W B. Palugaswewa, said rains in the catchment areas have not been adequate. He estimates that water levels in the reservoirs is about 34% of capacity.
He said that more than 100mm of rain was expected for more than three days, but that there was “only one spell of rain in Anuradhapura two weeks ago’’.