The heat is on till September

Weathermen blame El Nino

The prevailing extreme heat and humidity will continue till the first week of September, the Meteorological Department has warned.

The usual monsoonal rains that come in March and April had avoided Sri Lanka this year, except for occasional rains marked by intense thunder and lightning, according to Director Training and Research, Sarath Premalal.

Sri Lanka had not received its seasonal rain, at the beginning of the year, due to the prevailing El-Nino (a temperature anomaly) effect in the pacific ocean. He said that the El- Nino Southern Oscillation that has set in the Tropical Pacific will last for around eight months, causing delays in the monsoonal rains.

It is learnt that the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology had in May 2015 confirmed that the prevailing weather conditions were due to a strong El-Nino effect that had set in. The weather observation centres had sent out warning to countries that would be affected by the change.

Countries in the Pacific region including Australia and Indonesia would be the worst affected by the extreme heat conditions which would trig- ger wild fires and lower food production. Countries in the South Asian region including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would experience a dry spell, although in a milder way.

The phenomenon would also result in poor monsooal seasons with no rains that are crucial to crops. Also extreme weather conditions including drought, blizzard and tropical storm could be expected in some countries, these centres warned.

It is believed that last year’s extreme drought that affected the farmers of the north central region in Sri Lanka was due to the El- Nino effect. The mud slides of Koslanda that killed hundreds of people in one stroke could also be attributed to this condition.

El- Nino can also affect the rivers and the seas creating high tides and currents resulting in deaths by drowning. According to the Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka an average of three persons die every day due to drowning.

Mr. Premalal said the best way to face the changes that are caused by the El- nino effect was to cultivate new crops that need less water, recycle used water and collect rain water to tide over the period.