THIRD WARMEST AUG RECORDS LOWEST RAIN IN 19 YEARS
There were two major spells of weak monsoon during August 9-16 and August 23-27
NEW DELHI: August recorded the lowest rainfall in the past 19 years since 2002 with a deficiency of 24% over the long period average (LPA) according to India Meteorological Department. The average maximum temperature in August was the third highest during the 19012021 period; the average minimum temperature was the eighth highest and mean temperature was also the third highest.
HT had reported last month that July 2021 was the sixth warmest July on record with a mean temperature of 28.52 degrees Celsius, 0.55 degree C above normal and the third warmest July considering minimum temperatures at 24.88 degrees C, 0.56 degree C above normal.
The average maximum, average minimum and mean temperature for the country as a whole during August was 31.75 degree C, 24.39 degree C and 28.07 degree C respectively against the normal of 31.09 degree C, 24.01 degree C and 27.55 degree C based on the average for 1981-2010 period, IMD said.
NEW DELHI: August recorded the lowest rainfall in the past 19 years since 2002 with a deficiency of 24% over the long period average (LPA) according to India Meteorological Department. The average maximum temperature in August was the third highest during the 19012021 period; the average minimum temperature was the eighth highest and mean temperature was also the third highest.
HT had reported last month that July 2021 was the sixth warmest July on record with a mean temperature of 28.52 degrees Celsius, 0.55 degree C above normal and the third warmest July considering minimum temperatures at 24.88 degrees C, 0.56 degree C above normal.
The average maximum, average minimum and mean temperature for the country as a whole during August was 31.75 degree C, 24.39 degree C and 28.07 degree C respectively against the normal of 31.09 degree C, 24.01 degree C and 27.55 degree C based on the average for 1981-2010 period, IMD said.
“The main reason why August recorded high temperatures both maximum and mean wise is because the monsoon was subdued for several days over a large part of the country. Naturally when there is less rain there is less clouding and temperature goes up. But climate change signature is also present in recent years which is why several recent months have made records in terms of temperature. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Physical Science Basis report has also flagged that we can expect record temperatures in coming years,” said OP Sreejith, head, climate monitoring and prediction group, IMD
The average maximum temperature over Central India during August was second highest (31.25 degree C), while average minimum temperature is sixth highest (24.50 degree C) and average mean temperature is the third highest (27.88 degree C) since 1901.
There were two major spells of weak monsoon during August 9-16 and August 23-27 when northwest, central and adjoining Peninsular and west coast of India recorded subdued rainfall.
Intra-seasonal variation in terms of week-by-week rainfall variation over India shows that monsoon rainfall was largely subdued consecutively for three weeks. “The formation of fewer low-pressure systems compared to the climatology and absence of their longer westward movements during August contributed to the large deficient rainfall in central India as well as all India,” IMD said in a statement on Friday.
Negative Indian Ocean Dipole over tropical Indian Ocean, which is unfavourable for monsoon prevailed throughout August, which contributed to deficient rainfall. There were fewer typhoons in the West Pacific and so there was an absence of westward movement of their remnants into Bay of Bengal. This led to fewer lowpressure systems forming over the Bay of Bengal.
In August 91 persons died, 13 persons were injured because of heavy rains, floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Due to lightning, 30 persons died, 15 were injured and 21 livestock perished mostly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu.
August witnessed very heavy and extremely heavy (over 20 cm) rainfall events over West Madhya Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and Konkan and Goa. There were 28 stations which reported extremely heavy rainfall, 272 stations reported very heavy rainfall (11.5 to 20 cm). Delhi Ridge recorded 14.9 cm rain which is an all time record for 24 hour rain in August. The previous record was 12.74 cm in 2007. Shivpuri, Car Nicobar, Aizawl, Thanjavur also made records.