IMD predicts normal summer

HYDERABAD: With Telangana dealing with an unusually warm February, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday allayed fears of a hotter summer, stating that the mercury will be normal or even below normal.

S.C. Bhan, head of hydromet and agromet advisory services, IMD, noted during a virtual press conference that the monthly average maximum temperature in February nationwide was the highest since 1901.

“The monthly maximum temperatures in March are very likely to be normal (33-35ºC Celsius) and below normal as compared to other parts of the country. The minimum temperatures during MAM (March to May) will very likely be normal to below-normal (below 15ºC),” he said.

The rainfall during March will be normal to above-normal. The heat wave probability in the southern peninsula will remain low.

On the warm February, Bhan said, “We are living in a warming world and possible reasons for climate change for increased temperature could not be ruled out. The entire northern hemisphere got less rainfall.”

March will have fewer heat waves and April and May will have more, except in peninsular parts of the country, the IMD said.

Currently, a La Niña condition is prevailing over the equatorial Pacific region and is likely to weaken and turn to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral condition during the pre-monsoon season.