June-Sept monsoon saw highest extreme rainfall events since 2020: Report

In the monsoon season gone by, the number of days affected by low pressure systems remained above the climatological normal, which is one of the main reasons for ‘above’ normal rainfall.

“During the last five to six years, weather systems have been travelling through Central India, which used to follow the northward trend. The longevity of monsoon systems has increased because of back-to-back systems. These systems led to the saturation of soil moisture,” said KJ Ramesh, former director general, IMD.

The rainfall distribution, too, remained largely uneven during this season with 167 districts reporting rainfall deficit and 340 districts experiencing normal rainfall. Global warming and its increasing impact caused by anthropogenic activities, too, have been linked to the erratic rainfall, said the report.

According to Akshay Deoras, Research Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, UK, the monsoon is variable under climate change scenarios. “A general link with climate change is that when conditions are favourable for rain, the chances of intense rainfall are more. Longer dry spells and periods of intense rainfall are likely.”

Even though India recorded 108 per cent of the Long Period Average or ‘above’ normal rainfall this season, the night temperatures remained appreciably warm, the report said.

According to the report, the average night temperatures during the season over east and northeast India and northwest India remained the warmest and second highest, respectively.