Wait for first monsoon shower
Posted by barunroy on June 5, 2008
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| Lightning zig-zags across the sky over Loleygaon near Kalimpong on Wednesday. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha) |
Siliguri, June 4: After a relatively mild summer, north Bengal is all set to welcome the first monsoon rain “any time now” and it will be a heavy one, says the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
In the daily monsoon forecast yesterday, the IMD warned of isolated heavy to very heavy rain in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, along with the Northeast, Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Lakshadweep.
“Because of fractured cloud formation, heavy precipitation has not been possible so far. We expect depression to become bigger in the next few days and the region will get the first monsoon showers,” said Subir Sarkar, the in-charge of the weather station of North Bengal University.
G.N. Raha, a meteorologist at the Regional Met Office in Jalpaiguri, said his department was waiting for rains to make the official announcement of the monsoon arrival. “The conditions are favourable and it should rain any time now,” he added.
In the District Level Ensemble Weather Forecast issued by the IMD today, it will rain 12.1mm on June 5, 22.2mm on June 6 and 9.7mm on June 7 in Darjeeling district.
In Jalpaiguri district, according to the forecast, it will rain 10.3mm on June 5, 32.5mm on June 6 and 14mm on June 7.
The monsoon is on time and is expected to be normal or above normal, say weather experts. “The official time for the onset of monsoon in sub-Himalayan West Bengal is around June 5,” Sarkar said. “For the past seven years, monsoon has been hitting north Bengal around May-end or June-first. This time too, the monsoon showers seem to be fairly on time.”
The rains are coming after a relatively cool summer. “Because of a series of depressions over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, the pre-monsoon showers were quite heavy and the mean maximum and minimum of temperature were about one-three degrees Celsius below normal, making the summer less hotter,” Sarkar said. Barring a few days, the summer was largely pleasant for people in Siliguri and surrounding areas. Sunny days were accompanied by evening rain more often than not, making temperature bearable.
The tea industry is also keeping a close watch on the monsoon. “We lost 25-30 per cent crop to drought in March and April,” said P.K. Bhattacharya, secretary of the Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Association.“With the pre-monsoon showers in May, the production figures have started catching up. A good monsoon will help us not only recoup the initial losses, but also have a better production,” he added. [The Telegraph]
