India has recorded its second-warmest November in 123 years, with the average daily maximum temperature for the month reaching 29.37 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday, reported The Indian Express.
The average daily maximum temperature in November was higher than normal by 0.62 degrees Celsius. The average daily minimum temperature, too, was higher than normal by 1.05 degrees Celsius.
The month saw higher than usual temperatures after the end of the monsoon in October. If the trend continues, 2024 could become the warmest year on record globally.
In India, the above-normal temperature has been attributed to a lack of strong western disturbances, The Indian Express quoted meteorologists as saying.
These weather systems originate in the Mediterranean Sea and travel to India between November and March, where the moisture picked up along their journey is deposited over the northwestern plains.
With the lack of western disturbances, northwest India saw a rainfall deficit of 79.9% in November. Parts of southern peninsular India, which benefit from the northeast monsoon, recorded a 37.9% deficit.
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the India Meteorological Department’s director general, told The Indian Express that the dip in November rain can be traced back over two decades.
The agency’s data shows that India received normal or above rainfall in November in only six years between 2001 and 2024.
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