Eleven districts in the State, excluding Kannur, Kasaragod, and Thrissur, have either received excess or large excess rainfall during the southwest monsoon that began on June 1.
In the resurgent monsoon, Kerala overall received 2,394.1 mm of rainfall as against the normal of 1,701.4 mm from June 1 to August 22, according to the latest statistics of the Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
At the same time, Lakshadweep received deficient rainfall during the period. It recorded just 423.5 mm as against the normal of 773.7 mm. The percentage departure of rainfall in the State was recorded as 41 and Lakshadweep minus 45%.
According to the Meteorological Department, rainfall is said to be normal when the recording is between 94 and 104%, below normal when it is between 90 and 96%, deficient when it is less than 90%, above normal when it is 104-110%, and excess when it is above 110%.
The southwest monsoon is calculated from June 1 to September 30. Idukki district, which faced the brunt of floods and landslips, received large excess rainfall with a percentage departure at 92 and Palakkad 73%. The rainfall recorded in Idukki was 3,555.5 mm as against the normal 1,851.7 mm and for Palakkad it was 2,285.6 mm as against the normal of 1,321.7.
The districts that received excess rainfall till now are Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, and Wayanad.
Kasaragod has received only 2,287.1 mm as against the normal of 2,609.8 mm. This is considered to be normal but the percentage departure is minus 12, the MET said.
Pre-monsoon rain
Quite significantly, Kerala overall received excess rainfall during the pre-monsoon period from March 1 to May 31 and Lakshadweep large excess of rainfall during that period. It is also impossible to predict the northeast monsoon calculated from October 1 to December 31.
