Telangana faces below-normal rainfall as monsoon weakens

Telangana is likely to remain relatively dry through the first week of September, according to the IMD’s extended forecast. The State recorded a 34 per cent rainfall deficit in August till August 20, while cumulative monsoon rainfall is 13 per cent below normal.

Hyderabad: Telangana is staring at a significantly below-par finish for August, as monsoon systems are forecasted to bypass the Southern Peninsular region, an extended weather forecast between August 20 and September 6, released on Thursday by India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi, indicated.

The subdued/ below par rainfall forecast implies the State’s dry trend is projected to persist into the first week of September. The assessment comes on the heels of a sharp drop in rainfall so far in August.

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Unlike July’s steady recovery, the performance of the Southwest Monsoon in August in Telangana has been sluggish, recording an actual rainfall of 92 mm against the expected normal of 141 mm, a 34 per cent deficit, according to Telangana Development Planning Society (TSDPS) rainfall data. The cumulative rainfall from June 1 to August 20 stands at 432.1 mm against a normal of 498.7 mm, with a deficit of 13 per cent, which puts the State in normal category.

The IMD’s outlook highlights that current weather activity is concentrated over Central India and the Himalayan foothills, driven by a series of low-pressure systems moving across Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gangetic West Bengal. Meanwhile, a weaker-than-normal low-level Somali Jet and subdued atmospheric dynamics over southern peninsular India are failing to drive moisture inland toward Telangana and neighbouring interior regions, it said.

While a fresh upper-air cyclonic circulation is expected to take shape over the north Bay of Bengal toward the end of August, potentially spawning a low-pressure area by the start of September, the IMD expects the core of this system’s heavy downpours to favor East and Northeast India. As a result, Telangana is likely to see only isolated to scattered showers rather than widespread relief.