South, north-east India may see slightly 'below normal' rains, says Skymet

For south India, Skymet sees some poor rainfall this season at 97 per cent of the long-period average

A day after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a normal monsoon for 2018, private weather forecasting agency Skymet said east and north-east India, along with parts of southern India, might get slightly ‘below normal’ rains in 2018, though the overall picture looks promising.

Agriculturally crucial regions of north and Central India are expected to get ‘normal’ to ‘excess’ rains in 2018, it added. In its monsoon forecast for the country earlier this month, Skymet had predicted ‘normal’ rains on a cumulative basis at 100 per cent of the long-period average. The forecast included an error margin of plus and