NEW DELHI: In March, India witnessed the record highest heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms, lightning and hailstorms in large areas in the past five years. It caused the loss of human life, livestock and crops.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted the development of El Nino conditions, which would impact the second half of the monsoon, i.e. reduction in monsoon – not good news for Indian agriculture.
IMD also warned people that the first half of April would continue to witness more rainy days while the second half of April will witness a rise in temperature above normal. Meanwhile, an unusual March rainfall wreaked havoc on Indian agriculture and rural lives.
The data shows that there were reportedly 105 incidents of heavy rainfall in March triggered by seven back-to-back western disturbances(WD). There were five severe WD moved across North and Central India during 14-22 March.
In March, many stations reported heavy to very heavy rainfall
(Heavy rainfall range 64.5-115mm and Very Heavy rainfall range 115.6-204mm)
| Year | No. of Stations reported Heavy to Very Rainfall |
| 2023 | 105 |
| 2022 | 19 |
| 2021 | 14 |
| 2020 | 50 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2018 | 41 |
Source: IMD
This year March climate was quite the opposite of last year. Last year, March was one of the hottest months, while this year, March's temperature was below normal. In the second half of March, most of the country experienced an unusually long spell of simultaneous thunderstorms, hailstorms, lightning and gusty wind. It caused the death of 68 people, injured 44, and caused the deaths of over 500 livestock.
The havoc created by the heavy rains in the country
| Death | Injury | Livestock death | |
| Lightening | 60 | 15 | 490 |
| Heavy Rains | 7 | 29 | 63 |
| Hailstorm | 1 | 0 | 0 |
IMD’s observation shows that the La Nina (cooling of the tropical pacific ocean) condition is over, and its transition to El Nino (warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean) has started. The El Nino condition impact would be visible during the second half of the monsoon, i.e. July-September 2023. However, the other models suggest a continuation of neutral conditions for El Nino.
During the hot weather season (April-May-June), many parts of the country are expected to experience above-normal maximum temperatures. However, southern peninsular India and some parts of west-central India will share normal to below-normal maximum temperatures.