-IANS Private weather forecaster Skymet said monsoon is going to have "a very sluggish start" and deficit rains are likely to spill into July. Monsoon this year is likely to be "below normal" at 93 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) owing to developing El Nino in the Pacific Ocean, which poses higher risk for the eastern parts and a major portion of central part of the country being...

-The Hindu ‘El Niño conditions petering out’ New Delhi: There’s unlikely to be a drought in 2019 as the El Nino — a climate phenomenon linked to drying up of the monsoon rains in India — is likely to peter out by the beginning of the monsoon, according to a forecast on Monday by private weather forecaster Skymet. “The El Niño conditions were on the rise in the Pacific Ocean till December last....

-Hindustan Times Previous attempts to study 18th and 19th century droughts have been limited to meteorological droughts caused by failure of rains A study that reconstructed droughts and famines across India over the last 146 years says lack of moisture in the soil for extended periods of time can be linked to some of the most devastating famines. Previous attempts to study 18th and 19th century droughts have been limited to meteorological droughts...

-The Indian Express IMD, Thiruvananthapuram, director S Sudevan said the state has received hardly any rain since the beginning of this month. Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): An unusual dry spell coupled with the reported fall in the groundwater level in flood-hit areas of Kerala has emerged as a cause of concern. IMD, Thiruvananthapuram, director S Sudevan said the state has received hardly any rain since the beginning of this month. Weekly rainfall for the whole...

-The Indian Express The main problem for farmers today is not production or having sufficient crop to sell. Instead, it has to do with prices that they are getting for their produce. The Met Department has forecast a third-in-a-row “normal” south-west monsoon this year, thanks to the very low probability of an El Nino event — the abnormal warming of the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean waters, which is known to adversely impact...