North Andhra Pradesh rain brings little relief as deficit nears 50%
Several districts in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh, including Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Anakapalli and Parvathipuram-Manyam, received moderate rain on Thursday. However, the showers are barely enough to bridge the rainfall deficit recorded in these districts, which ranges from 40% to 60%, according to official data.
On Thursday, the day's highest rainfall between 8.30 a.m. and 7 p.m. was recorded in Dattirajeru of Vizianagaram district at 82.7 mm. Other places that received moderate rain included Salur of Parvathipuram-Manyam (65.75 mm), Butchiraju Palem of Visakhapatnam district (58 mm), Parvada of Anakapalli district (56.75 mm), Kotapadu of Anakapalli (55.5 mm), Commonpoint area of Visakhapatnam district (53.75 mm) and Vijayarampuram in Srikakulam district (40.5 mm).
Other places in these districts received rain below 40 mm. Yet, the rainfall was not enough to bring down the deficit percentages. Srikakulam recorded a deficit of 55.1%, followed by Parvathipuram-Manyam (49.3%), Anakapalli (41.8%) and Vizianagaram (42.4%).
As of August 6, the overall deficit in Andhra Pradesh stands at 49.1%, a slight fall from July 31 when it stood at 52.4%. So far, the State has received 146.1 mm of rain as against the normal of 286.9 mm between June 1 and August 6, according to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES).
Annamayya district, with a deficit of 71.7%, leads the State with the steepest rainfall shortfall, followed by Chittoor (64.1%), Prakasam (60.6%) and Visakhapatnam (60.3%).
According to the updated forecast issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday, there may not be much rain in the State this week, until August 13. The IMD's rainfall outlook for August indicates that a few stations in the State, especially coastal areas and those sharing a border with Telangana and Karnataka, may receive normal to above-normal rain. However, the State may see above-normal daytime and minimum temperatures this month.
