By IANS,
New Delhi : Farmers can now breathe a sigh of relief as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Friday declared that the south-west monsoon season’s rainfall will be at least 98 percent.
“IMD’s long range forecast for the 2010 south-west monsoon season (June to September) is that the rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be normal,” the met department said.
“Quantitatively, the monsoon season’s rainfall is likely to be 98 percent with a model error of ± five percent. The long period average rainfall for the country as a whole for the period 1941-1990 was 89 cm,” the IMD added.
The met department said that it will update the forecast in June 2010 as part of its second stage forecast. Separate forecasts for the monthly (July and August) rainfall over the country as a whole and seasonal (June-September) rainfall over the four geographical regions of India will also be issued in the near future.