BHUBANESWAR: The wettest September in last 14 years has managed to compensate for the prolonged dry spell Odisha experienced as the 2021 monsoon season has ended on a normal note, with a 9 per cent shortfall. A deviation of 19 per cent of the long period average (LPA) is considered normal during the June 1-September 30 period.
The cumulative rainfall Odisha recorded during the period this year was 1,046 mm against the normal precipitation of 1,155.3 mm. However, much of the districts would be struggling without rain had it not been for the last month of the season. An above normal rainfall in the last 30 days helped the State register a normal monsoon.
The State recorded 384.8 mm rainfall this month making it the fourth wettest September in India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s recorded history for Odisha. The previous highest rainfall for the month was 401.7 mm and it was recorded in 2007. The highest rainfall of 483.2 mm for the month of September had been recorded in 1961, while the second highest was 405.9 mm way back in 1945.
The rainfall recorded in September this year is around 70 per cent more than the normal precipitation of 226.6 mm. This helped the State bridge the deficit of monsoon rainfall as the cumulative rainfall dropped from a 29 per cent deficit on August 31 to around 9 per cent on September 30, said Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre HR Biswas.
Six out of 30 districts, however, continue to reel under dry conditions due to below normal precipitation. The cumulative weekly rainfall data of IMD suggested that on an average, each district recorded deficit rainfall for nearly eight weeks and most of it was back-to-back raising the fear of drought. Deficit rainfall was recorded in most of the districts in third week of June and continued till the first week of September.
Data suggests, out of an overall 18 monsoon weeks, Bhadrak district recorded deficit rainfall of 23 to 68 per cent for a whopping 17 weeks. Similarly, Keonjhar district recorded deficit rainfall of 20 to 41 per cent for 15 weeks. At least 14 dry weeks were also recorded in Balangir, Nabarangpur and Kalahandi districts where the deficit rainfall ranged in 20-45 per cent.
Koraput is the only district where rainfall remained normal and above normal during the 18 weeks. On the other hand, cumulative rainfall continues to remain deficit in Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Balangir, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Jajpur districts.
Biswas said this variation in rainfall during monsoon, also known as intra-seasonal variability of monsoon, is normal and happens every year due to a number of reasons including monsoon trough and cyclonic circulations among others.
“Even as the monsoon period of the State is between June and September, normal rainfall is also expected in the post-monsoon season in October first week,” he added. The usual period for monsoon withdrawal from the state is October 10 to 15, he said.