Severe drought awaits North Kerala

KOCHI: Weathermen say that there will be  good showers in parts of south-central and eastern districts of Kerala in the next three days while the   northern districts  will continue to  remain dry.      "There would be low-level convergence of moisture from the surface of earth up to almost 1.5 km in the atmosphere parallel to the Western Ghats in the south-central and eastern districts from Thrissur in the next three days because of which up to 1 to 2 cm rainfall will occur in parts of these districts from Tuesday,” said Dr M.G. Manoj, research scientist with the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research (ACARR) of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) here. He said that weather prediction beyond three-four days was difficult in the tropical region. However, the showers are likely to subside after that.

He pointed out that after the onset of pre-monsoon or summer showers since March 1,parts of south-central and eastern districts have received five to six times more rain than normal. These are mainly in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. The drought will be severe in the coming days in northern districts compared to central, southern and eastern districts. “The thunder showers during the summer are highly localized. This is because of the low-level convergence of moisture in those areas. When the air comprising ample moisture becomes hotter in one place, it goes up, cools and condenses which results in rainfall in that local area.