Friday, July 23, 2010

Cherrapunji crosses 1000 cm for the year

Cherrapunji has 10000 mm mark once again, Will the record for one calender year 24555.3 mm in 1974 be broken.

Rainfall toppers from 1.1.10 to 23.7.10 (cut-off 165 cm)
  1. Cherrapunji (Meghalaya) - 1022 cm (Annual around 1100)
  2. Passighat (Arunachal Pradesh) - 294 cm (Annual around 450)
  3. Agumbe (Karnataka) - 262 cm (Annual over 750)
  4. Buxa (West Bengal) - 260 cm (Annual around 550)
  5. Shirali (Karnataka) - 254 cm (Annual over 400)
  6. Silchar (Assam) - 248 cm (Annual around 350)
  7. Piravom (Kerala) - 246 cm (Annual around ??)
  8. Coochbehar (West Bengal) - 241 cm (Annual around 350)
  9. North Lakhimpur (Assam) - 238 cm (Annual around 350)
  10. Jalpaiguri (West Bengal) - 227 cm (Annual around 350)
  11. Vadakara (Kerala) - 222 cm (Annual around ??)
  12. Panambur (Karnataka) - 220 cm (Annual over 350)
  13. Gangtok (Sikkim) - 220 cm (Annual over 350)
  14. Honavar (Karnataka) - 225 (Annual over 350)
  15. Peermade (Kerala) - 216 cm (Annual around 500)
  16. Gaganbawada (Maharashtra) - 213 cm (Annual over 600)
  17. Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) - 211 cm (Annual around 350)
  18. Mangalore AP (Karnataka) - 209 cm (Annual around 400)
  19. Karwar (Karnataka) - 209 cm (Annual around 400)
  20. Ratnagiri (Maharashtra)- 195 cm (Annual around 300)
  21. Panjim (Goa) - 189 cm (Annual around 300)
  22. Chinnakallar (Tamilnadu) - 186 cm (Annual around 500)
  23. Dibrugarh (Assam) - 186 cm (Annual around 300)
  24. Dhubri (Assam) - 180 cm (Annual around 300)
  25. Kottayam (Kerala) - 177 cm ( Annual around ??)
  26. Bhagamandala (Karnataka) - 172 cm (Annual over 600)
  27. Kottigehara (Karnataka) - 170 cm (Annual around ??)
  28. Jorhat (Assam) - 165 (Annual around ??)
  29. Valparai (Tamilnadu) - 165 cm (Annual around 350)
Many stations in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharastra, and North East would have crossed 165 cm. Its very time consuming in calculating the rankings from the archived data.
Karnataka Reservoirs filling up following heavy rains ... http://ow.ly/2fF4Y
RT @cramanjaneyulu: Heavy rain in Hyderabad... will it allow me to go home??? (5:40pm)
Take a look at China .. with a huge mass of cloud in a circulation pattern.. http://ow.ly/i/2MRE
7:30pm, Very heavy showers all over Madhyapradesh, Chatisgarh, Orissa, N. Andhra and N-E Karnataka... http://ow.ly/i/2MQU
View exclusive forecast satellite images, turbulence forecast, fog forecast and more ... www.nuwe.in
Chennai - www.nuwe.in... predicts a Cloudy & Wet Weekend for Chennai ... http://ow.ly/i/2MES
Chennai - Chance of a shower has been increased to 80% now 4:48pm... but "Nuwe.in" predicts NO rain for Chennai today.. http://ow.ly/i/2MEI
Chennai - Cloud formations started at about 3pm and now 4:44pm we have heavy formations.. waiting for Sea breeze to break in.
Chennai - Touched a max of 35.6 C (2:31pm)... temperature still 4:43pm is warm at 34.3 C .. because there is NO sea breeze yet.
RT @himvani: Monsoon 8 % more than normal in Himachal... http://bit.ly/cALNmF
@rajugana >> Thanks for the nice monsoon coverage from Baroda.
RT @rajugana: @weatherofindia, Baroda, 1.30 pm- gathering dense clouds, it rained heavily..a view of cloud..s http://ow.ly/i/2Mvj
RT @AndreenaCNN: Thousands of homes flattened as more floods drench China - http://bit.ly/brB2f0 cnn
RT @royradhika: it feels great to have lemon ice tea in dis rainin season....happy monsoon
RT @sumeet_vishal: Monsoon in Himachal .. http://ping.fm/3cjpd
Today again widespread heavy showers forecast all along Maharastra coast ... http://ow.ly/i/2Mt8
Today... more showers forecast for Uttar pradesh, E. Madhyapradesh, Chatisgarh, Orissa and N. Bihar... http://ow.ly/i/2Mt8
12pm, Showers into Coastal Orissa and S. Bengal... http://ow.ly/i/2Mt3
12pm, North Bay is very active ... http://ow.ly/i/2Mt3
12pm, Showers over Coastal Karnataka & Kerala are subdued ... http://ow.ly/i/2Mt3

Bay ‘low' forecast; gains likely for East, Central India

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has hinted the possibility of a low-pressure area spinning up over north-west Bay of Bengal by the weekend.
The location is very close to the ‘sweet spot,' Head Bay of Bengal – from where, during classical monsoon conditions, a ‘low' drives into the farming heartland of the country.

LIKELY LOCATION
But such a ‘low' has been conspicuously absent thus far during the season. The present one does not look like one such either, if forecast models are to be believed.
The US National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) begged to differ, predicting the location bang right over the Head Bay. But that is just about it.
Thanks to the presence of opposing westerlies, the system would be forced to potter around the coast, if not entirely track to the southwest, before it can penetrate the mainland, the NCEP said.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), too, seems to agree with the scenario, and sees the system meandering west into southern parts of Central India and North Maharashtra.
The deep westerly trough from the opposite side and associated westerlies and southwesterlies would not allow the system to move further, though the interaction of the flows is expected to cause rainfall over central India.

SECOND ‘LOW'?
In fact, the ECMWF sees another ‘low'/cyclonic circulation taking shape off the Andhra Pradesh coast early next week and triggering another wet session over that part of the peninsula.
The Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) of the US National Weather Services sees enhanced rainfall over many parts of India (except the northwest), the Bay of Bengal and South-East Asia during the week ending Monday.
The CPC expressed ‘high confidence' in this eventuality, which it attributed to an enhanced phase of a monsoon-friendly Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) wave, developing La Nina conditions in the Equatorial East Pacific and above-normal sea surface temperatures (SST).
However, it also signalled the possibility of another tropical cyclone brewing in the North-west Pacific around the Philippine archipelago during the following week (July 27 to August 2), a potential distraction to monsoonal flows over India.

PRODUCTIVE SESSION
The Global Forecast System (GFS) model of the CPC has said in its outlook for July 27 to August 5 that most parts of India, except east peninsular India, would witness a mostly productive monsoon session.
This cause would be amply served by the enhanced wet phase of an MJO phase that is forecast by varying models to last until August 5 or even up to August 15 before fading out completely.
Meanwhile, the IMD said in its update on Thursday that widespread rainfall has been reported from the West Coast during the 24 hours ending in the same morning.
It was fairly widespread over west Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat region, Saurashtra, East Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab while being scattered over Telangana, the Northeastern States, Vidarbha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.
Satellite pictures revealed the presence of convective (Rain-bearing) clouds over parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, East Arabian Sea and Southwest and East-central Bay of Bengal.
The upper air cyclonic circulation over central Pakistan and adjoining northwest Rajasthan persisted. The offshore trough from south Gujarat coast to Karnataka coast, too, persisted.
A warning valid for the next 24 hours said that isolated heavy rainfall would occur over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand, West Uttar Pradesh, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Coastal Karnataka.
An IMD outlook spoke about the possibility of fairly widespread rain or thundershowers over the Western Himalayan region, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Interior Maharashtra, Interior Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours.
Fairly widespread rain or thundershowers would occur over the West Coast, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Northeastern States, Central and East India and Gujarat State.
Forecast until Tuesday (July 27) said that fairly widespread rainfall would occur over Central, East and Northeast India, the West Coast and along the foothills of the Himalayas.
Monsoon rains improve, brighten crop outlook ... http://ow.ly/2fsg9
Agumbe: Tears in heaven ... http://ow.ly/2fseH
RT @EcoSeed: Squirrels Getting Fatter With Climate Change http://bit.ly/aWqrpc
The Monsoon of Indian Sub-Continent ... nice images collection .. http://ow.ly/2frF6
RT @rajugana: @weatherofindia, baroda:9.50am, fabulous weather, cloudy sky with dense passing clouds, intermittent showers!!! Green everywh

Agumbe: Tears in heaven

I am weary, the changes — social, financial, environmental — have made me so. I know, I cannot fight change; I am depressed, my spirit sags. People who know me, don’t like the change they see and they go away. But I cannot leave, I am rooted. I look back at history, my past leaves me exhausted.I am Agumbe, a small town in Shimoga district. People say sage Agumba lived here, and that I get my name from him. I used to feel proud, not because of association with the sage but because of association with the sunset point, the beautiful waterfalls that challenge trekkers — Kunchikal, Barkana, Onake Abbi, Jogigundi and Koodlu Theertha –– of the thick evergreen forests that shelter rare, endangered species of plants and animals.Of the cool breeze filled with thick mist. Of the heavy rain and heavier clouds that cover me for months together.

I am beautiful, but will my beauty last? Or will my story become an allegory for death? My beauty never became a capital for tourism, but my hidden wealth may become the object of lust of Karnataka’s mining tycoons. Doddagudda, not far from me, is rich with iron ore.In 1972, some people tried mining it.The Central government, however, threw the proposal away. The present day rulers, though, have no sense of shame; they can go to any extent to help the mining tycoons.At the beginning of the last century, I was a busy place. I was under the control of then princely state of Mysore, a junction between the British- ruled Mumbai and the Madras Province-ruled Mangalore. Those days there was no direct link between Mangalore and Mumbai. People used to come in bullock carts, stay overnight, and the leave for Mangalore or Mumbai.Then Dewan of Mysore P N Krishnamurthy constructed a huge choultry, in 1906, to provide free shelter and food for the travellers. The stone and mortar choultry, roofless now, stands a testimony to the good civil work of those days and the negligence of today’s people towards heritage.

Travellers were supposed to catch charcoal run seven-seater motor vehicles from Agumbe to Harihar and then catch a train to Mumbai.After the serpentine road, with 14 hairpin curves in the ghat section, was built, and after motor vehicles replaced bullock carts, running taxis from Agumbe to Someshwara down the ghat became the main economic activity. The other occupation was the manufacture of rail sleepers. The logs were cut in the forest. The sawdust strewn there helped the wild growth of cardamom. Strict forest laws ended the wood cutting business, and with introduction of mini-buses, taxi business too lost out. Soon, cane manufacturing became synonymous with my name. This business ended with the non-availability of cane.Now there is not a single single such economic activity linked to me.People tried, though. Laxminarayana Mallya established a rice mill in 1993, thinking that farmers from surrounding villages would bring paddy for hulling. It was a loss making enterprise.Mallya, also set-up the first lodge here almost four years ago, exactly 100 years after Dewan Krishnamurthy started the choultry. He gets customers only on weekends.Education changed me. With the starting of a high school almost 30 years ago, the youths now tend to go for higher education and finally migrate to urban areas. Ask Krishnamurthy Hebbar, who worked in the high school for 27 years as head master.He has seen the population dwindle.In 1900, my population was around 5,000, now it is 300.In the last one decade, Naxal activity has made my life even more miserable.Though the number of visitors have not come down, they are wary to stay with me. In 1900, Tirthahalli had 16 policemen to look after entire taluk.Now, I alone have 60 police personnel.


I have lost my distinction as the “Cherrapunji of the South” after the government established a rain gauge centre in Hulikal in Hosanagar taluk.With the change in economic activity and the climate, lifestyles have also changed. People no longer get ready for the monsoon. Earlier they used to store firewood and charcoal, vegetables, condiments, pulses and cereals for the six-month period well in advance. They used to have potsherd everywhere, even in schools to keep the room warm. They used to cover houses with knitted leaf mats to prevent walls getting damp. Now people have electric heaters and cooking gas connections. They can get condiments and vegetables of their choice any time. Plastic sheets have replaced leaf mats. Acacia plantations have replaced paddy fields. Elders have migrated to other places to stay with their children. Agriculture labourers get subsidised rice under the PDS, and employment under NREGS. They need not look for any other work.I learnt that the government has been planning to have a direct road from Agumbe to Someshwar, avoiding the hairpin curves so that heavy vehicles can ply easily down the ghat. I am afraid, this is a plan to take iron ore directly to the ports in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.If it is true, I will lose my importance, and vanish one day.

Cherrapunji and Agumbe

Cherrapunji and Agumbe have many things in common.Agumbe in Shimoga district, Karnataka is known as Cherrapunji of South as it used to receive the highest rainfall in the country, next only to Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. Cherrapunji receives an average annual rainfall of 1,143 cm, while Agumbe receives an annual average rainfall of 764 cm. It received the highest rainfall recorded in a month, in August 1946 — 450.8 cm. Though both are heavy rainfall areas, they face acute shortage of drinking water. While in Cherrapunji, women have to walk long distances to fetch water, in Agumbe every household has an open well where the water level is low enough to test the stamina of the people. Agriculture is also hindered in both the places because the top soil is usually washed away due to heavy rain. In winters, the temperatures hovers around 2 degrees to 5 degrees Celsius in both the places, and doesn’t go beyond 23 degrees Celsius save a day or two.Both have lost their wettest area tag. While Cherrapunji lost its fame as the wettest place on earth to the Mawsynram in Meghalaya, Agumbe lost the Cherrapunji of the South tag to Hulikal in Hosanagar taluk.

Source Indian Express

Karnataka Reservoirs filling up following heavy rains

The night-long rain in the catchment area increased the inflow of water into Linganamakki reservoir, raising the level by two feet. As per the recordings on Wednesday morning, the water level at Linganamakki reservoir stood to 1763.50 feet and there was an inflow of 26,146 cusec of water.

Rain continued for the third consecutive day in Hosanagara, Tirthahalli and Sagar taluks. A total of 115 mm of rain was recorded at Hulikal (wettest place in south India) , 118 mm each at Mani reservoir region and Yediyur, 130.2 mm at Agumbe and 32.2 mm at Tirthahalli. Water level at Mani reservoir rose to 564.04 metres. There was continuous drizzle in Sorab, Shimoga and Bhadravathi. Reports said most parts of Kodagu have been receiving good rains. There was a let up for sometime in Bhagamandala area. Following good rains in catchment areas inflow into Harangi reservoir stood at 2,521 cusec


Source: Deccan Herald