India to have ‘normal’ Monsoon this year, says IMD
India to have normal Monsoon this year, India Meteorological Department The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a normal Monsoon this year. Monsoon rains were expected to be normal during the June-September period, said IMD Director General K J Ramesh. “Monsoon 2018 is likely to remain normal at 97 per cent (with an error margin of +/-5 per cent) of the long period average (LPA) for the four-month period from June to September,” Ramesh said. The top IMD official said there was very less probability of a deficient Monsoon this year. The IMD considers the Monsoon to be normal if the average rainfall is between 96 to 104 per cent of long period average. If the average rainfall is below 90 per cent of LPA, the Monsoon is termed 'deficient'. Earlier this month, private weather forecasting agency Skymet had also predicted normal Monsoon this year. Unlike the IMD, Skymet had predicted a 100 per cent normal Monsoon, with an error estimate of plus-minus 5 per cent. The IMD, meanwhile, said it would be able to forecast a clearer picture of the Monsoon, which normally extends from June 1 to September 30, only in June. In 2017, while IMD predicted 96 per cent average rainfall in its first forecast in April, the Monsoon season over the country as a whole was 97 per cent of its LPA. -PTC News
