‘Odisha, One Of The Best Monsoon Performer For 2018’

Bhubaneswar: Independent weather forecast agency Skymet has tagged Odisha as one of the states that mostly performs well during the monsoon.

This year, monsoon arrived late in Odisha on June 27 instead of June 10 the normal date for its onset, the weather forecast agency said.

The delay led to a rainfall deficit of 27 per cent in June. However, rains picked up pace thereafter. Systems formed over the Bay of Bengal triggered good rainfall activity over Odisha, bringing the deficiency down to 15 per cent by mid-July.

During the third and fourth week of July, extremely good rainfall activity was recorded and by July 17, the deficit was only 3 per cent. Towards the end of July, the state had become rainfall surplus by 6 per cent.

In August, monsoon was equally good and Odisha recorded 10 per cent surplus rain. As of September 11, the state has received 1155.5 mm of rain against the normal of 1022.7 mm, which is a surplus of 13 per cent, making it one of the best performing sub-division during the southwest monsoon season.

According to Skymet, Balangir is the only district in Odisha to receive 21 per cent deficit rainfall. The monsoon has been normal to excess in the remaining 29 districts with Puri recording a surplus of 62 per cent.

Odisha had been performing well since the last 10 years. Even the severe drought year of 2009, when India saw a deficit of 22 per cent, the eastern state managed to stay near normal, it further said.

With monsoon weakening over the entire country, rains have gone scanty and this situation is expected to continue for the next one week as no weather system is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal, it added.