Manipur set for extremely heavy rains

GUWAHATI, Aug 18
Parts of North East India are set to witness widespread rainfall activity over the next 3-4 days starting Tuesday, August 18, with isolated extremely heavy falls likely on August 19 and 20.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon trough currently lies south of its normal position, and it will remain active for the next 3-4 days. Furthermore, a fresh low pressure system is on the verge of forming over northern Bay of Bengal around August 19, and it could become more marked during the subsequent 24 hours.
Owing to the combination of these meteorological conditions, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall, along with isolated heavy to very heavy showers have been forecast over North East India over the next 3-4 days, from Tuesday to Friday.
Moreover, isolated extremely heavy falls are particularly likely over Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Tripura (NMMT) on Wednesday and Thursday, and over Meghalaya on Thursday.
In view of this forecast, the IMD has issued an orange alert (“be prepared” for rough conditions) over NMMT on Tuesday, over Arunachal Pradesh and NMMT on Wednesday, and over Assam and NMMT on Thursday. However, these advisories could very well be upgraded to a red warning due to the likelihood of extremely heavy rainfall over the States.
By Friday, the advisory level over Assam and NMMT will be downgraded to a yellow watch, which urges residents to “be aware” of the weather situation.
Heavy downpour could once again aggravate the flood situation in Assam as well. As of Monday, three districts within the State, viz. Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, and Baksa remained inundated, with some 11,900 people reeling under the impact of the floods, as per an official bulletin.
Further, the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) latest report indicates that the water level in river Brahmaputra is expected to rise by 19 cm by Tuesday night, and the nearby residents have accordingly been requested to “be cautious if going near the riverfront”.
Wet conditions were seen across the region at the beginning of the week as well, with rains and thunderstorms observed at most places over NMMT, and many places in Assam and Meghalaya on Monday, August 17.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the monsoon season, i.e. between June 1 and August 18, Meghalaya has received 2649.6 mm rainfall—an ‘excess’ compared to its long-term average for this time period—whereas Nagaland (628 mm), Manipur (536.4 mm), and Mizoram (812.8 mm) have all recorded ‘deficit’ precipitation figures.
Arunachal Pradesh (1334.3 mm), Assam (1162.5 mm), and Tripura (903.2 mm), on the other hand, have registered a ‘normal’ amount of rainfall so far this season.
Times of India (Weather Channel)