The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Monsoon musings in Kochi

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Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
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Monsoon musings in Kochi

Staff Reporter

— File Photo

United in Spirit: For friends, one shade is enough during the rain. A scene in Kochi.

Kochi: On Tuesday, the rain that poured over Kochi resembled the showers during the peak of the southwest monsoon.

Those who have been closely observing the pattern of rainfall in Kerala are a happy lot these days. For, Kerala has received an excess rainfall of 21 per cent from June 1 to September 4, said P.V. Joseph, the former director of India Meteorological Department.

The State received 250 cm of rainfall as against the anticipated 208.1 cm during the southwest monsoon. Heavy rain in Kochi on Tuesday was the result of a low pressure.

Rain in Kerala, during the weakened phase of monsoon, will be accompanied by lightning and thunder. During the peak period, lightning and thunder is very unlikely, said Dr. Joseph. The rain was not generous to Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram this season.

While Kozhikode received 18 per cent excess rainfall, it was a mere six per cent in the capital city.

Weathermen in the northern parts of the country seem to be worried about the rainfall pattern. Their worries are not unfounded— there was an increase of only two per cent at the national level as per the data based on the rainfall received between June 1 and September 4.

The weathermen anticipate that the two per cent excess would soon slip to deficit in the coming days as the southwest monsoon has become weak in other parts of the country, except in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Overall, the monsoon has become weak in India. The withdrawal of the monsoon from the North West may start soon as the weather conditions have become conducive for its return, Dr. Joseph said.

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