Monsoon Likely To Be Normal This Year, Says IMD

The country is likely to receive below-normal rainfall in June, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said while forecasting normal monsoon for the entire season, according to a PTI report.

IMD Environment Monitoring and Research Center (EMRC) chief D Sivananda Pai said, "Below normal monthly (June) rainfall is expected over most parts of the country except some areas of south peninsular India, northwest India, extreme north India and some isolated pockets of northeast India, where above normal rainfall is expected."

The southwest monsoon is expected to be normal this season despite the onset of El Nino, which is caused due to warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, he told a press conference.

Pai said the seasonal rainfall over the monsoon core zone consisting of most of the rain-fed agriculture areas in the country is most likely to be normal -- 94 to 106 per cent of the long period average, added the PTI report.

In June, above-normal monthly maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of the country, except for the extreme north and some parts of the southern peninsular India, where below-normal and normal temperatures respectively are likely, said IMD.

As sea surface temperature (SST) conditions over the Pacific and the Indian Oceans are known to have strong influence on Indian monsoon, India Meteorological Department (IMD) is carefully monitoring the evolution of sea surface conditions over these Ocean basins. IMD will issue the forecast for the July rainfall in the last week of June.