Major Rainfall In Odisha Not Likely In August: IMD DG

Bhubaneswar: While the spectre of drought looms large over Odisha due to deficit rainfall till date, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said there is no possibility of major rainfall in the state till next week.

Talking to the media on Tuesday, Director General, IMD Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the IMD in its earlier forecast had said the rainfall activity in Odisha will increase after August 15. But the duration of the rainfall was short-lived.

The state received rainfall for 2-3 days as the low pressure became weak and drifted towards the north-west. As a result, the average seasonal rainfall in the state till date is 33 per cent less while that in August is 55 per cent less.

Explaining the reasons for the deficit rainfall, Mohapatra said Odisha is the only state which receives more rain mostly under the influence of low pressure during the monsoon.

“Most of the low-pressures are formed over the north-west Bay of Bengal along and off Odisha coast which move towards the north-west and trigger heavy rainfall in the state. Going by the rainfall data, about 13 low-pressures are formed over this region in the Bay of Bengal every year,” he added.

Referring to the prevailing condition of the monsoon, Mohapatra said due to the subdued monsoon, there has been deficit rainfall in 27 districts in Odisha except three south Odisha districts of Malkangiri, Koraput and Nuapada that have received normal rainfall.

“The modular study states that there will be no major rainfall in the state till next week as there is no possibility of formation of low-pressure areas over the Bay of Bengal,” he pointed out. Asked whether there is a possibility of more rain in September, he said the IMD will announce it on August 31 or September 1.

He further said the monsoon wind is a huge system that is influenced by some large-scale factors and regional factors.

“The regional factors usually determine the formation of low-pressure areas. Due to the disturbance in the regional factors, there is no formation of more low-pressure over Bay of Bengal. Apart from this, the cross-equatorial wind flow from the Bay to Arabian sea from southern hemisphere to northern hemisphere and the wind flow in Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea are very weak. As a result, the condition is not favourable for formation of low-pressure areas over the Bay of Bengal,” the IMD DG said.

He also said the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) activity also plays a major role. If the IOD activity is positive, it gives momentum to the monsoon and if negative, the monsoon becomes weak.

“The IOD is defined by the difference in sea surface temperature between two areas or poles – a western pole in the Arabian Sea (western Indian Ocean) and an eastern pole in eastern Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia. It is a significant contributor to rainfall variability in this region,” Mohapatra explained.