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New Delhi: On Friday, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district recorded 97 cm rainfall over 24 hours, which culminated at around 8:30 AM on today morning, the highest in June since 1995 and the third highest in 122 years.
The wettest place on earth, Cherrapunji recorded 2,456 mm of rain over the last three days triggering one of the worst floods and landslides in Meghalaya in recent years. Nearly ten people have died in Meghalaya and Assam due to rainfall-related accidents this week. Skymet Weather vice president (climate change and meteorology) Mahesh Palawat said apart from an intense monsoon spell over the northeast, there are other reasons for the record-breaking rain. “There is a trough extending from northern plains up to Nagaland. There is a lot of moisture feeding that area from the Bay of Bengal. The remnants of a western disturbance are also reaching Assam and Meghalaya. In the southern parts of northeast India like Manipur, Tripura, and Mizoram such obstruction which can hold the moisture is not there so very heavy rain is not recorded there.”
On Friday, The IMD, in its forecast issued has said that heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue over Assam, Meghalayala, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim till next Tuesday. There is a red category warning for Assam and Meghalaya for Friday and Saturday for extremely heavy rain. A trough at mean sea level is running from northwest Uttar Pradesh to Manipur across Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Assam. “Moisture incursion is very likely to continue due to strong lower-level southerly/southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal to northeast India during June 17 to 20,” IMD said on Friday.
IMD said conditions are favourable for further advance of monsoon into Madhya Pradesh, remaining parts of Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh, and West central and northwest Bay of Bengal, parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar during the next three days.
