Depression may prolong torrential rain over Peninsular, Central India
A monsoon depression formed o the Odisha and adjoining North Andhra Pradesh coasts on Friday and lay parked about 70 km SouthEast of Puri; 130 km East of Gopalpur; 130 km SouthSouth-East of Paradip (all Odisha) and 240 km EastNorth-East of Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is likely to move across the Odisha coast near Puri without weakening during the early morning of Saturday. It would move across Odisha and Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually by Sunday.
IMD’s projections suggest the depression may weaken while moving towards Central India and may fizzle out midway merely because another low-pressure area will have been initiated over the Bay of Bengal next week. It will likely initiate another round of punishing rain for East Coast (Andhra PradeshOdisha-West Bengal). Hyperactivity in this manner during the second half of July could likely throw up more circulations in the Bay, a short-to-medium outlook of the IMD said. In this context, two westward-moving disturbances in the South China Sea and West Pacific are may require to be closely watched.
MONSOON SCALES UP
Intensification of a ‘low’ as a depression, chances of which was alluded to earlier in these columns, signalled in no uncertain manner the scaling up of monsoon activity across West, Central and East India and the South Peninsula.
Familiar atmospheric features — monsoon trough from the Bay of Bengal up to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and the oshore trough from
Parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Gujarat-Mumbai-Konkan and Karnataka coast were poised to get heavy showers on Friday
South Gujarat to North Kerala — persisted on Friday and are active. The resulting heavy rain has set o floods, landslides and other calamities along the ghat areas in Karnataka and Kerala, among others.
MORE RAIN FORECAST
Forecast for the next five days said fairly widespread to moderate rain, thunderstorms, and lightning are likely over West, Central, East and South Peninsular India. Isolated extremely heavy rain may break out over Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Telangana, South Interior Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka, and Vidarbha on Saturday. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely over Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Coastal and South Interior Karnataka till Wednesday next; over Kerala & Mahe and Telangana until Sunday; Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam and Tamil Nadu on Sunday; over Odisha, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Marathwada on Saturday; and over Madhya Pradesh during Saturday to Monday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said exceptionally heavy rainfall occurred over Saurashtra (Porbandar 49 cm) during the 24 hours ending on Friday morning.