The vigorous spell of heavy rain that lashed most parts of Kerala in the first week of July has helped the State reduce its rain deficit to 33%. June came as a big disappointment for Kerala, with the State recording around 48% drop in the long period average of rainfall.
Though the July forecast of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) hinted below-normal rainfall in some parts of the south peninsula, including Kerala, the late surge aided by the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal and the monsoon trough running from the Gujarat coast to the Karnataka coast, especially in north and central Kerala, helped the State bridge the gap to some extent.
According to the statistics available with the IMD, the southwest monsoon has slipped into the red in the first month of its arrival in Kerala 27 times during the period between 1901 and 2021. Out of these 27 years, only seven times the season ended with deficient rainfall, and 20 times the deficit was wiped out by heavy rain in the succeeding months. Interestingly, out of the 27 deficient June rain in 121 years, nine rain-deficient June were in the current millennium (between 2002 to 2021).
