Kolkata received 557.4 millimetres of rain this September, according to the India Meteorological Department. Only three Septembers since records began in 1900 have been wetter, which makes this one the city's fourth-wettest in 126 years and its third-wettest in 50, the Kolkata daily Ei Samay reports.
Figures cited from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune show that the wettest September on record was in 1900, with 1,157 mm. Second is the flood year of 1978 (892 mm) and third is 2021 (613.8 mm). This year has pushed 2006, with 541.8 mm, out of fourth place.
The last burst of the monsoon also narrowed the shortfall across India. The weather office says the national rain deficit fell from 15 per cent to 12.6 per cent in a week. Between 1 June and 30 September the country received 759 mm against a normal of 868.6 mm. Up to 21 September it had received 697 mm, so the 62 mm of the following nine days cut the deficit by about two and a half percentage points.
Meteorologists credit a series of low-pressure systems over the Bay of Bengal and an active western disturbance over north India. Odisha had 1,476.8 mm by 28 September, 7 per cent above its normal of 1,378.8 mm.
West Bengal normally receives about 1,350 mm between June and September; this year it received 1,336.1 mm, which counts as normal. North-west India, the southern peninsula and parts of the north-east are still short of rain.
Although the south-west monsoon has begun to withdraw from several regions, scattered rain is likely for some days yet. With a chance of further lows or circulations forming over the Bay of Bengal, the eastern coastal states may get more rain in the coming days. The report is by Kuboloy Bandyopadhyay.
Photo: Jorge Royan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Ei Samay
Comments
(0)