New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday announced normal monsoon rainfall. “Southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be normal (96-104%),” the IMD said in its first stage Long Range Forecast for monsoons.

Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr M. Rajeevan released the IMD’s Long Range Forecast for the 2021 Southwest Monsoon Season Rainfall. Dr. Rajeevan said that quantitatively, the monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall is likely to be 98 percent.

Dr. Rajeevan pointed out that Neutral El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions are prevailing over the Pacific Ocean and Neutral Indian Ocean Dipole conditions are prevailing over the Indian Ocean.

“There is very little chance of El Niño conditions developing during monsoon months. There is a very small probability of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) negative condition developing during monsoon. So, these conditions are likely to lead to a normal monsoon this year,” he explained.

The southwest monsoon season, that replenishes the country’s farm-dependent economy, first hits the southern tip of Kerala usually in the first week of June and retreats from Rajasthan by September.