In the just concluded South West Monsoon 2022, India received 925 mm rainfall, about 106.5% of the Normal SW Monsoon rainfall of 868.6 mm or 6.5% more than the normal SW Monsoon rainfall as per India Meteorological department. This rainfall will now be categorised as normal rainfall though the distribution has been far from normal, both temporally and spatially. The monsoon withdrawal[i], however is yet to happen from most of India, except a small part in North West India including parts of Rajasthan and Haryana. IMD has predicted that the withdrawal of monsoon will not be completed till at least Oct 15 as due to a fresh cyclonic activity in Bay of Bengal, rainfall over MP and UP is likely to continue in first week fo Oct 2022.
In SW Monsoon 2021, the rainfall was 874.6 mm, 0.68% below normal rainfall. In SW Monsoon 2020, the rainfall was 956.7 mm, or about 8.74% above normal and in SW Monsoon 2019 it was 10.4% above normal. Thus this is the fourth straight year when rainfall has been normal or above normal. The district wise, state wise rainfall figures for June 2022, June-July 2022 and June-Aug 2022 are given in separate articles with maps. Similarly figures for High Rainfall events in June 2022, July 2022, Aug 2022 are given in separate articles.
All the rainfall from now on (i.e. after 0830 hours on Sept 30 2022) will be counted in Post Monsoon season in IMD accounts.
The month-wise distribution of rainfall during the SW Monsoon 2022 was as follows.
| June 2022 | July 2022 | Aug 2022 | Sept 2022 | SW Monsoon 2022 | |
| Actual | 152.3 | 327.7 | 263.8 | 181.2 | 925 |
| Normal | 165.3 | 280.5 | 254.9 | 167.9 | 868.6 |
| % departure | -8% | +16.8% | +3.5% | 7.9% | +6.5% |
Source: IMD; rainfall figures in mm.
As we can see from the table above, the rainfall varied widely across the four monsoon months ranging from 8% below normal in June to 16.8% above normal in August. The range of fluctuation in 2022 however, has been lower than that in 2021. There has been similar wild variation spatially and within the monsoon months, but we do not have an index of rainfall distribution that captures these variations. What we need is a more detailed, nuanced index of rainfall that will not only capture the quantum of rainfall as it does today, but also the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall across the monsoon and across the nation. This will give a better picture of the monsoon rainfall and would also help us understand how this index is changing.
Thus, as reported below, in spite rainfall being above average, Khariff crop acreage has reduced by about 1%, including under Paddy (acreage down by 5%), pulses and Oilseeds. This is particularly so in the Northern states of UP, Bihar, Jharkhand.
IMD has also predicted that the rainfall in Oct-Dec North East Monsoon will be normal that is within 12% of normal rainfall of 334 mm, mainly experienced in southern Indian parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rayalseema, Kerala and Pondicherry.
State wise Rainfall As we can see from the IMD map above, in the four month long South West Monsoon 2022 concluding on Sept 30, 2021, out of 36 States and Union Territories (UTs), One (Ladakh) had Large Excess, Ten had Excess (Actual rainfall 20-59% above normal), 19 had normal (Actual rainfall 19% below normal to 19% above normal), Six had deficit (Actual rainfall 20-59% below normal rainfall) and none had Large Deficit (Actual rainfall over 60% below normal) in rainfall. Ladakh had the lowest rainfall at 37.6 mm. Goa had the highest rainfall at 2763.7 mm.
Sub Division wise rainfall IMD divides India into 36 meteorological divisions (the logic of many of them is questionable). As we can see from the IMD map of Sub Division wise rainfall above of SW Monsoon 2022, 12 sub divisions had Excess rainfall, 18 had Normal rainfall and 6 had deficit rainfall. Coastal Karnataka had the highest rainfall at 3245.2 mm and Punjab had the lowest at 413.7 mm rainfall. W Rajasthan had the highest surplus rainfall % at 57%. Bihar had the highest deficit rainfall % at 31%.
River Basin wise Rainfall As we can see from the IMD’s river basin wise rainfall map above, IMD also reports river basin wise rainfall. However, as we have been noting in the past, this reporting remains rather callous and inadequate, unfortunately, though IMD would know that it is much more important to provide accurate figures of river basin wise and sub basin wise rainfall figures.
This is clear from the map, where was can see that IMD reports NO RAIN in whole of the four month long monsoon 2021 in Vaippar Pamba river basin in TN-Kerala. THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBILITY, looking at the district wise rainfall in these areas in the maps below, among others. This kind of situation keeps repeating year after year, though number of basins where this happened this year is lower. IMD also reports NO DATA in several basins including: Jhelum, Upper Indus. The low rainfall shown in Imphal and other basins in Manipur also raises doubts if that is correct.
We shall be reporting more details about the river basin wise rainfall in a separate article as we did in earlier years.
All India District wise rainfall departure map The map below provides district wise picture of rainfall at all India level and in four regions of India.
Bar charts for daily rainfall IMD also provides bar charts for All India and regional rainfall figures that give comparison between daily actual and normal rainfall as can be seen below.
DISTRICT WISE STATE WISE RAINFALL
NORTH INDIA: Jammu & Kashmiar
Ladakh
Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand
Punjab
Haryana
Delhi
EAST INDIA
Uttar Pradesh
Bihar
W Bengal
Jharkhand
Odisha
Chhattisgarh
NORTH EAST INDIA
Sikkim
Assam
Arunachal Pradesh
Meghalaya
Manipur
Mizoram
Nagaland
Tripura
SOUTH INDIA
Andhra Pradesh
Telangana
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu
Kerala
WEST INDIA
Goa
Maharashtra
Madhya Pradesh
Gujarat
Rajasthan
SANDRP (ht.sandrp@gmail.com)
End Note:
[i] https://mausam.imd.gov.in/imd_latest/contents/monsoon_withdrawal.php
SANDRP 
thanks so much for such a wonderful aggregation of rainfall information.
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Many thanks. Plz keep sending feedback.
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