Why is it in the News?

Ministry of Earth Sciences announced recently that the country as a whole is likely to receive above-normal rainfall during the southwest monsoon from June to September 2024.

What is the Long Period Average (LPA) of Rainfall?

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts a “normal”, “below normal”, or “above normal” monsoon in relation to a benchmark “long period average” (LPA).
• According to the IMD, the “LPA of rainfall is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like month or season) average over a long period like 30 years, 50 years, etc”.
• While this quantitative benchmark refers to the average rainfall recorded from June to September for the entire country, the amount of rain that falls every year varies from region to region and from month to month.
• Therefore, along with the countrywide figure, the IMD also maintains LPAs for every meteorological region of the country — this number ranges from around 61 cm for the drier Northwest India to more than 143 cm for the wetter East and Northeast India.

Why LPA is Needed?

• The IMD records rainfall data at more than 2,400 locations and 3,500 rain-gauge stations.
  • Because annual rainfall can vary greatly not just from region to region and from month to month, but also from year to year within a particular region or month, an LPA is needed to smooth out trends so that a reasonably accurate prediction can be made.
• A 50-year LPA covers for large variations in either direction caused by freak years of unusually high or low rainfall (as a result of events such as El Nino or La Nina), as well as for the periodic drought years and the increasingly common extreme weather events caused by climate change.

What is the Range of Normal Rainfall?

• The IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are:
  • Normal or near normal, when the percentage departure of actual rainfall is +/-10% of LPA, that is, between 96-104% of LPA;
  • Below normal, when the departure of actual rainfall is less than 10% of LPA, that is 90-96% of LPA;
  • Above normal, when actual rainfall is 104-110% of LPA;
  • Deficient, when the departure of actual rainfall is less than 90% of LPA; and
  • Excess, when the departure of actual rainfall is more than 110% of LPA.