Pre-monsoon season ends with a rainfall deficit of 25%, the second lowest in 65 years

The pre-monsoon season – March, April and May – ended with a rainfall deficiency of 25%, which is the second lowest in 65 years, according to data from the India Meteorological Department and private forecaster Skymet Weather.

The country received only 99 mm of rainfall from March 1 to May 31, The Times of India reported. According to IMD data, pre-monsoon showers had fallen below the three-digit mark only three other times – in 2012, which was the driest with 90.5 mm rainfall, in 2009, when India received 99 mm rain between March and May, and in 1954, when India recorded 93.9 mm of pre-monsoon rainfall.

“This has been the second driest pre-monsoon season in the last 65 years, with the lowest being recorded in 2012 when countrywide cumulative rainfall deficiency had mounted to 31%,” Skymet Weather said.