Wet spell to wipe out summer in Kovai, predict agri experts

Over the last three decades, Coimbatore district has recorded average annual rainfall of 694 mm. Professor and head, Agro Climatic Research Centre (ACRC), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), S. Paneerselvam said that rainfall periods here can be divided into four seasons as winter shower (January and February) summer shower (March to May), south-west monsoon (June to September) and north-east monsoon (October to December). 

“The average rainfall we get in these four seasons is 25 mm, 136 mm, 210 mm and 323 mm, respectively. But last year, the total rainfall we got in all the four seasons was a mere 272 mm. This year we got 26 mm during the winter, which is a little more than the average rainfall figure. Last year, it was zero mm during the same season and we got just 68 mm in summer,” he told DTNext. 

While we are just two weeks before the summer shower season, a few parts of Coimbatore city have already received 50 to 70 mm rainfall. Thanks to the moderate and heavy showers on March 7, 9 and 14, he added that, “In the city, rainfall was at its peak at Peelamedu and TNAU areas that recorded 50.5 mm rainfall in a day (on March 9).” He also said that there were chances for showers late in the evening before the end of this week. Panneerselvam further said that in the outskirts of the city, moderate and heavy rain was recorded at Anamalai, Sarkar Samakulam, Sulur, Thondamuthur and Periyanaickenpalayam. Stating that the said areas recorded between 40 mm and 70 mm rain over the past week, he added that this is a good sign for a better summer shower and that it could go past the average summer shower (130 mm) in the district. 

However, this would not be sufficient to improve the underground water table that has gone down by several hundred feet due to the failing monsoon last year. “The showers so far will only improve the surface level water availability, as it is only a maintenance shower. We will need at least two such spells of rains for the underground water to improve marginally, provided we store it (in the ground) than letting it drain in the form of artificial floods,” he added.