The Southwest Monsoon comes to an end on Tuesday, and there is only one sub-division, South Interior Karnataka that is excess by 21%. The remaining parts of the country have observed poor rains. About 30% of the total area is scanty. Skymet Meteorology Division in India had forecast a below normal Monsoon this year, which is how the entire season has panned out.
The onset of Monsoon was very poor with June observing a rainfall deficit of 43%. July and August did better and the monthly deficit was 10% and 9.3% respectively. This was due to some good rains during the last two weeks of July and beginning of August.
The month of July saw all shades (scanty, deficit, normal, excess) with Lakshadweep being scanty and South Interior Karnataka, Odisha and Konkan and Goa recording excess monsoon rain. However, there wasn't any sub-division that was scanty or excess, taking into consideration the cumulative rainfall figures during the month. Normal sub-divisions were 17, while 19 were deficit.
Like July, August too experienced all shades of weather. During the month, the sub-divisions of Punjab, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh were scanty, while Arunachal Pradesh and some sub-divisions of South India were excess. But again considering the cumulative rainfall figures, there was only one sub-division (South Interior Karnataka) that was excess, 20 were normal, deficit were 13 and scanty were 2 (Punjab, Haryana).
This grim scenario improved marginally in September due to some good rain in Jammu and Kashmir during the first half and East and Northeast India during the second half. The state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was deficit in July turned normal and gradually became excess. Heavy rains in the state had lead to massive floods. Over 270 people had died and thousands displaced in this calamity.
As of today, end of Southwest Monsoon season, South Interior Karnataka is the only sub-division that has ended up being excess by 21%. However the country rainfall deficit stands at 12%, a condition called drought in meteorological terms. When cumulative rainfall deficit is 10% or above, it is termed as drought.
