The Young Chronicle: For Grade 3 June 6th, 2015 | Page 5

Weather Forecast this week! By Vaibhav Kumar
We all hope it rains this week so it reduces the heat and the environment for all living things
becomes liveable. That is why the arrival of the summer monsoon is monitored very closely in
India.
According to Meteorological Department (IMD) the monsoons are expected to arrive "on time".
After listening to news on various channels and surfing the web for weather predictions my
findings are :
1. Only 40 percent of available agricultural land is under irrigation, so the late arrival or the
failure of the rains can have a dramatic impact on crops.
2. This year’s prediction is that the rains will arrive across Kerala on June 1 (+/- a day or so)
3. IMD is expecting the monsoon rains to be "below average". This is because of a phenomenon called El Nino. El Nino is a band of warm ocean currents which develop on the surface
of a section of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific region. This band has an impact
on weather across the globe and on India, as it reduces the intensity of the trade winds
which are responsible for the monsoons in India.
4. Apart from the quantity of the rainfall, it is the timing of the monsoon that matters. The timing of the monsoon is crucial to the sowing of summer crops, such as rice. Last year’s
rains, which were more than 10 percent below expectations, resulted in lower production of
grain, cotton and oilseed. It is because of the fickle and irregular rainfall, that farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana states, which make up the "breadbasket" of India, have
been in a state of despair. More than 30 farmers have committed suicide in Uttar Pradesh
alone, so far. The situation in Andhra Pradesh is no better, as crops, including potatoes
and onions, have been ruined. The state governments have provided some financial compensation to farmers, but it is a good monsoon that will bring cheer to farmers across India.
The weather across the subcontinent seems to be rather irratic, with the floods in Jammu and
Kashnmir, the storms in Bihar and north India during the Nepal Earthquake, and off time rainfalls in the winter. These irregularities in the weather have killed scores of people in recent
days. The Indian Meteorological Service has predicted further heavy rain in the coming days.
Rainfall in the far north of India is much less dominated by the summer monsoon than elsewhere in the country. It’s only in the west that March and April are the wettest months, as the
monsoon winds strike during these months.
Meanwhile, as mentioned before, the east of the country has experienced some severe
storms. In the state of Bihar at least 20 people have died because of lightning, torrential rain
and damaging winds. There were reports of collapsed houses in the state capital Patna, and in
Purina and Katihar districts. These severe storms are a feature of the weather ahead of the
southwesterly monsoon and they are known as ‘kalboishakhis’. In the coming days these
storms may occur in Bangladesh and the far eastern states of India.
Thunderstorms have been observed at isolated places over Jammu division of Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi. These Thunderstorms accompanied with squalls would occur at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan and Odisha. Thunderstorms have also been predicted at
isolated places in Assam & Meghalaya, Tripura, and West Bengal. So bring out your umbrellas.