- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the average maximum temperatures from April to June are likely to be warmer by half a degree in several places in Central India and northwest India. Previously, the IMD had also issued a temperature outlook for the hot weather season of March to May.
- The prediction has been done based on Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS) developed under the developed under the National Monsoon Mission which seeks to improve monsoon forecast in India.
- According to IMD, El Nino might be playing a part in high temperature conditions in India. El Nino refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. El Niño events occur roughly every two to seven year.
- El Nino disrupts global wind patterns affecting climatic conditions in tropical areas like Africa, sub-tropical areas like India as well as the extra-tropical areas like North America.
- A strong El Nino results in reduction and uneven distribution of rainfall across the Indian sub-continent. This is because the trade winds coming from South America which normally blow westward towards Asia during Southwest Monsoon gets weakened due to the warming of the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, moisture and heat content gets limited and this leads to poor rainfall in the region.
