Winter rain in January has done substantially good in comparison to the rain during the post monsoon season. After reeling under a rain deficiency of 33% in the period of October – December, India has managed to bring down its rain deficiency to 6% this month.
Against the normal rainfall of 16.5 mm for the month, the country has received 15.6 mm of rainfall with almost half of 36 sub-divisions receiving normal rainfall.
Winter rain leads to low day and night temperatures resulting in cold afternoons and chilly nights and hence are crucial for the chill thrill, especially in parts of North India.
Western Disturbance is the major cause for rains in plains of North India and snowfall in hilly states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. From heavy to moderate rainfall followed by intermittent drizzling till afternoon are some of the characteristics of winter rain witnessed in January.
Performance of rainfall in plains of North India
Western disturbance largely affects the weather of plains of North India in January. In contrast to conspicuous presence during the post monsoon season, this weather system frequently visits and revisits the country. This year, western disturbance’s offshoot has resulted in fairly good amount of rain in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that is usually beneficial in sowing of winter crop like wheat and other rabi crop.
The agro intensive states of Punjab and Haryana received a total of 17.8 mm and 12.4 mm of rain during January which helped the states bring their rain deficiency down to 12% and 16%, almost half the deficiency observed during Oct-Dec that stood at 49% and 31%, respectively.
From the abysmal performance during October–December, rainfall in Uttar Pradesh managed to do fairly well in January as East Uttar Pradesh garnered a whopping 101% excess rainfall with actual rainfall of 28.4 mm as against the 14.1 mm. January commenced on a good note for West Uttar Pradesh as well that observed an excess of 84% as against the rain deficiency of 46% during Oct-Dec.
Performance of rainfall in Peninsular India
Witnessing heavy rain showers during the Northeast Monsoon starting from October, lasting till December, Peninsular India hardly witness any significant rain during January. Hence, Tamil Nadu observed a rain deficiency of 50%, followed closely by Rayalaseema with 49% rain deficiency. However, Telangana observed good rain and clinched a surplus of 118%.
Performance of rainfall in Central India
Fairly good amount of rain has also resulted in surplus in parts of central India including Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada as these parts witnessed surplus of almost 200 percent.
Surplus Rainfall in Central India
Performance of rainfall in hilly states
Unlike the norm, Jammu and Kashmir was the least and the last receiver of winter rain during January amongst the hilly states including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. While the rain deficiency stood at 71% for J&K and 23% for Himachal Pradesh, few spell of heavy rain led to a rain surplus of 26% in Uttarakhand.
According to Skymet, few more spells of rain are expected during next two weeks that might help several sub-divisions cover up their rain deficiency.
