The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday released its forecast for the month of July, predicting normal to above normal rainfall over a significant portion of central India, along with adjoining south peninsular and east India. Additionally, some areas of the Northeast and Northwest regions of India are also expected to experience this pattern of rainfall, as per the forecast.
In a tweet, the weather department wrote: "Monthly Rainfall Outlook for July, 2023 Monthly rainfall over the country as a whole during July 2023 is likely to be normal (94 to 106 %) of Long Period Average (LPA)) and possibly within positive side of normal."
The IMD predicted several highlights from its July weather release in a statement that summarised the entire forecast:
Rainfall: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the overall rainfall across the country during July is most likely to be normal (94 to 106% of Long Period Average) and lean towards the positive side of normal. Central India, adjoining south peninsular and east India, and some areas of Northeast and Northwest India is expected to receive normal to above normal rainfall. However, below-normal rainfall is anticipated in many areas of northwest, northeast, and southeast peninsular India.
Temperature: Maximum temperatures are likely to be normal to above normal in most parts of the country, with the exception of certain areas in northwest and peninsular India where below-normal maximum temperatures are expected. Meanwhile, minimum temperatures are predicted to be normal to above normal in most parts of the country, except for some areas in northwest India where below-normal minimum temperatures are anticipated.
SST: The IMD highlights the probability of El Niño conditions developing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions over the Indian Ocean from July to September 2023. These sea surface temperature (SST) conditions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have a significant influence on the Indian monsoon, and the IMD is closely monitoring their evolution.