Weather Today: Heavy Rain ‘bomb’ gets off over Odisha & Chhattisgarh

Pre-monsoon weather (March to May) exploded into activity last week over Odisha and Chhattisgarh bringing exceptionally heavy but localised rainfall, helping drastically change a dire deficit scenario over Central India during the 23 days until Sunday. 

Thunderstorms continue to bloom along the periphery and immediate neighbourhood of weather-generating troughs linking either Central or East Central India (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh or Odisha) with Peninsular India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Kerala), as also regionally across in North-East India, backed up by passing western disturbances across North-West India. 

Central India rains

Central India alone (-39 per cent during March 1 to 23) recorded an eventful +1,210 per cent surplus on Sunday alone, powered by an incredible +2,060 per cent over Odisha and +254 per cent in neighbouring Chhattisgarh. Rest of the meteorological subdivisions in the region – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra – drew a blank, ending up with large deficit/or no rain. 

Odisha lead meteorological subdivisions with above normal +19 per cent; Chhattisgarh with a normal -19 per cent; East Madhya Pradesh, -57 per cent; Madhya Maharashtra, -99 per cent; West Madhya Pradesh, -98 per cent; and Marathwada, -81 per cent; while Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch, and Konkan & Goa ended up with no rain (-100 per cent) during the period. 

South Peninsula surplus

South Peninsula led four homogeneous regions with a surplus of +40 per cent after meeting subdivisions of Lakshadweep (+228 per cent); Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal (+172 per cent); Kerala and Mahe (+98 per cent); Coastal Karnataka (+35 per cent); and South Interior Karnataka (+20 per cent) led from the front. Deficit is worst in Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam (-99 per cent), followed by North Interior Karnataka (-71 per cent); Rayalaseema (-64 per cent); and Telangana (-41 per cent). 

North-West India

In North-West India, the meteorological subdivision of Uttarakhand (+33 per cent) has a surplus, leaving adjoining Himachal Pradesh (-16 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (-32 per cent) in deficit. All other subdivisions have returned a deficit, led by East Uttar Pradesh (-85 per cent); East Rajasthan (-63 per cent); West Uttar Pradesh and Punjab (-60 per cent each); West Rajasthan (-36 per cent); and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi (-32 per cent). 

East and North-East India

East and North-East India has a deficit of -12 per cent, with a large excess of +187 per cent in Jharkhand doing the heavy lifting in the region. Plains of West Bengal followed with +10 per cent, leaving all rest in various amounts of deficit. These ranged from -70 per cent in Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura; -30 per cent in Bihar; -24 per cent in the hills of West Bengal and Sikkim; -21 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh; and -2 per cent in Assam and Meghalaya.