Missing easterly winds leave Northwest rain deficient, Northeast deluged: IMD

EASTERLY WINDS that bring monsoon to Northwest India have been absent, resulting in the dry spell in North India in June, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.

Reasons behind discrepancy

• In absence of easterly winds, southwesterly winds took the monsoon clouds to Northeast, resulting in excessive rainfall and floods there.

Discrepancy in Monsoon

• While the all-India rainfall was 4% deficient, Assam and Meghalaya experienced 1,000mm last week.
• Other parts of the Northeast, including Manipur, Tripura; sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim also received heavy rainfall.
• All India rainfall shows little change. But the number of dry spells are increasing as well as the pockets of extremely heavy rainfall are also increasing.
• The variability is high and this is worrying.

Past records

• Although, in the last three years (2019-2021), India has recorded normal to above normal rainfall but variability in dispersal of monsoon rain has been ever high.

Impact

• 75% of the country now falls under extreme weather hotspots, with six climatic zones, 27 states, 463 districts and over 638 million Indians vulnerable to extreme weather events.
• As much as 45% landscape disruption has taken place resulting in micro-climatic events.
• So, areas that were earlier drought prone are now becoming flood prone as well and vice versa.
• India is currently going through dry epoch rainfall with the number of dry days increasing.
• A 1% change in monsoon rainfall will result in 0.34% change in India's agriculture driven GDP that year.

Prelims Takeaway

• Monsoon and factors affecting it