News
Rains in the south-west, drought conditions in NP and NCP
Contrasting weather patterns in the island have been observed with the south-west receiving somewhat heavy rains causing minor traffic blocks on roads in Colombo and the suburbs while drought conditions prevailed in the Northern and North Central Provinces resulting in crop damages in over 100,000 acres.
Meteorology Department Duty Forecaster Ananda Jayasinghearachchi said that with the re-activation of the south-west-monsoon, rain can be expected in the south-west quarter of the country with the Western, and Sabaragamuwa provinces and the Galle and Matara districts receiving morning showers.
He added the reason for heavy showers in the Colombo, Kalutara, Matara and Galle districts is the convergence of south-westerly winds which facilitate heightened cloud formation. The Met Department predicts that after around the latter half of September the south-west quarter will receive more rain.
Meanwhile the hydropower catchment areas did not receive any notable rainfall and this condition is likely to prevail in the coming week. Norton received the highest rainfall among hydro catchment areas on Friday with only 3.5 mm. Laxapana and Canyon received a rainfall of 2.9 and 0.3 mm respectively while Castlereagh, Kotmale, Bowatenna and Victoria did not receive any rainfall.
Adding that global climatic changes have created a change in the usual rainfall pattern, Mr. Jayasinghearachchi said when compared with past years, this year recorded the lowest rainfall from the south-west monsoon during the period when it is generally active.
Pix by Indika Handuwela, Mangala weerasekera and K.G. Karunaratne
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