Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, July 17
There have been widespread rains over north-western India during the past 24 hours and as a result monsoon in Punjab has now moved into the green zone. It was just at par with normal last week and below the long period average before that.
The weather department has reported heavy to very heavy rainfall at some places in Himachal Pradesh and heavy rainfall at many places in Punjab and Haryana, which has brought down day temperatures and reduced the demand for power.
From the morning of July 16 till the morning of July 17, Punjab received 17.4 mm rain against the long period average of 6.8 mm for this period, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This accounts for a surplus of 155 per cent.
While the Malwa belt in the southern part of the state received excess rain over the past 24 hours, some parts of Doaba remained deficient while most of the Majha region remained dry.
The districts of Pathankot and Gurdaspur in the north did not receive any rain, while Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts were deficient by 99 percent and 80 percent respectively, according to the IMD. Hoshiarpur and Moga were deficient by 57 percent and 25 percent respectively for this period.
Rain was in excess in all other districts of the agrarian state. Nawanshahar reported the highest deviation of 1,422 percent followed by Fatehgarh Sahib with 990 percent and Ferozepur with 841 percent.
As far as the month of July is concerned, the monsoon is 26 percent above normal in Punjab, with the recorded precipitation for this period being 108.5 mm as compared to the normal of 86.2 mm.
The weatherman has predicted that isolated rainfall activity with thunderstorm and lightning is very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during the next three days and fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls, thunderstorm and lightning over the region during July 19 – 21.
There is also a forecast of scattered to fairly widespread light or moderate rainfall with isolated thunderstorm or lightning over the neighbouring states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during next the next three days and fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls over the region during July 18 to 21, which is likely to impact the weather over Punjab.
Excess rain over most parts of Punjab in the past 24 hours, more showers likely
{$excerpt:n}
