Monsoon loses strength amid El Niño impact concerns
Satellite images show substantial reduction in cloud cover across several parts of the country including over the Bay of Bengal, indicating a fall in rainfall
As scientists keep an eye on El Niño, predicted to be the strongest since 1950, a fall in the strength of the Indian monsoon days after gathering momentum is being attributed to the climate phenomenon.
Satellite images show a substantial reduction in cloud cover across several parts of the country, including over the Bay of Bengal.
Cloud cover reduces over Bay of Bengal
According to a report in India Today, while the low-pressure system is currently only active over central India, there has been a reduction in cloud cover over several other parts and the Bay of Bengal, which serves as a key moisture source for the Indian monsoon.
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The report says a fall in cloud activity over the Bay of Bengal shows a weakening of moisture transport towards the Indian landmass, leading to fewer spells of rain.
The shift in the monsoon axis (a broad and elongated zone of low pressure that forms where the winds of the southern and northern hemispheres meet) that usually runs from northwest India to the Bay of Bengal, to the south, is also likely to take away the most active rainfall zone away from the northern plains. It will translate to the return of dry weather in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Only shorter spells
The report says that these areas may not see incessant and widespread rains even though shorter spells are likely in the afternoon and evening.
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The satellite images, however, don’t mean that the monsoon has collapsed altogether, the report says, adding that India continues to have active rainfall-producing systems.
What is El Nino?
The development comes at a time when El Nino is predicted to raise global temperatures to a record level.
El Nino is a natural temporary warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific that heats up the globe's average temperature and warps weather extremes across the planet. Most forecasts have El Nino becoming the strongest in history.