Northeast sizzles in 'rainy season'

GUWAHATI: Poor rainfall in the entire region because of a weak surge of the monsoon is raining misery on the people of the region. Unbearably hot and humid conditions have been prevailing in the region since June 1.
On Wednesday, the capital experienced scorching heat with the temperature shooting up to 37 degrees Celsius, the highest in the northeast. North Lakhimpur recorded a maximum temperature of 36.2 degree Celsius during the day followed by Silchar and Dhubri-35.7 and 35.2 degree Celsius respectively.While Agartala recorded a maximum temperature of 36.8 degree Celsius, the rising temperature inched up to 35 degree Celsius in Itanagar. Met officials said the maximum temperature in northeastern towns and cities was 3 to 5 degrees above normal on Wednesday.
"A low pressure area is likely to develop over the north Bay of Bengal and its neighbouring areas in the next two to three days. As a result, less moisture is being carried from the Bay of Bengal to the northeast, causing the unusual heat. Besides, there is less cloud formation causing direct sunshine on the earth's surface," said a senior official at the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati.
What is, however, more worrying is the deficit rainfall the northeastern states have experienced since June 1, when the monsoon season begins climatologically. RMC data stated that at 65% deficit, Manipur recorded the highest deficit from June 1 to 18. This was followed by 46% deficit in Assam and 37% deficit in Mizoram. The shortage of rainfall in other states of the region are-Arunachal Pradesh 36%, Meghalaya 35%, Tripura 27% and Nagaland 14%.
In contrast, in the initial days of the monsoon season in NE, Meghalaya received the highest rainfall of 289.1 mm, followed by Tripura at 225.8 mm. But both were not adequate.
While Arunachal Pradesh recorded 172.5 mm rainfall, Mizoram and Assam experienced 157.7 mm and 134.1 mm respectively. It was followed by Nagaland (131.9 mm) and Manipur (90.6 mm).
Met officials, however, said that in the next 48 to 72 hours, rainfall activity may enhance as conditions are becoming favourable for further advancement of the Southwest monsoon into the remaining parts of the northeast and cover the entire region in the next 2-3 days.