Monsoon does 'vanishing act' ::::: Satellite images show rain collapse, India faces 64% deficit

Monsoon has vanished: Satellite images show rain collapse, India faces 64% deficit

The rainfall departure map paints a worrying picture, with vast stretches of central, southern and eastern India coloured in yellow and red shades, indicating deficient to large deficient rainfall.

Satellite and IMD data show the southwest monsoon has sharply weakened across large parts of India. Meteorologists say upper-atmospheric winds are driving a significant monsoon pause even as rainfall may improve later this week.

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India's southwest monsoon appears to have all but disappeared from satellite imagery, with large parts of the country witnessing a dramatic collapse in rainfall activity just days after the seasonal rains advanced into southern and central regions.

Fresh data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that India has received only 19.2 mm of rainfall against a normal of 53.7 mm between June 4 and June 15, translating into a nationwide rainfall deficit of 64%.  

The situation is even more striking in satellite imagery from INSAT-3DS captured on June 15. Instead of the familiar broad cloud shield associated with an active monsoon, much of peninsular and central India appears unusually clear.

The most significant cloud activity is concentrated over the Himalayas, northeastern India and areas north of the Indo-Gangetic plains, while the Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon looks weak and fragmented.  

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The slowdown comes despite the monsoon making further advances into parts of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and central India in recent days. 

Meteorologists say the problem is not a lack of moisture over the surrounding seas but a large-scale atmospheric tug-of-war unfolding several kilo metres above the surface.

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