New Delhi, Apr 14 (IANS): India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday announced that the SouthWest Monsoon rainfall over the country as a whole is most likely to be normal; quantitatively it is likely to be 99 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).
The LPA of the seasonal rainfall over the country for the period 1971-2020 is 87 cm (plus/minus 5 per cent) applicable since this year.
"The NorthEastern states, Northern parts of NW India and southern parts of peninsular India are likely to get below normal rainfall while rest of the country will get normal rainfall," IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
La Nina conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific region. Also, the negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD is the difference between temperatures at various parts of the Indian Ocean) is known to have a strong influence on the Indian monsoon. The IMD said it is monitoring the sea surface conditions over these Ocean basins.
The IMD said it will issue an updated forecast for the SW Monsoon rainfall in the last week of May 2022.