Giving a new lease of life to the paddy growers in the State who are in dire need of rainfall, following an extremely dry August, September puts forward the prospect of a gradual intensification of the monsoon aided by enhanced cross equatorial flow and the strengthening of the weather systems over the Bay of Bengal. The first three days of September saw a rainfall of 24.4 mm in the State against the long-period average of 30.7 mm of rain during the same period.
The State received only 59.6 mm of rainfall during the entire month of August against the average of 445.2 mm, resulting in a shortfall of 87%. For August, it was the lowest rainfall recorded in Kerala from 1901 to 2023. The situation was aggravated by the scanty rainfall in June, which provided only 260.3 mm rainfall against the average of 648.3 mm, a drop of 60%.
According to scientists in the India Meteorological Department, as per the long-period average of rainfall in September, the State will have to get a rainfall of 271.8 mm this month. It would still be difficult to wipe out the cumulative monsoon deficit in the four-month season. The current meteorological features are in favour of normal September rain in Kerala.
