After pounding the country with rains, the weather God is expected to shower his blessings during the Northeast monsoon season, too, which lasts from October to December and is largely confined to the south.
According to the forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), northeast monsoon, also known as winter rains, will be normal between 89 and 111 per cent of the long-period average (LPA).
The LPA of the northeast monsoon season over the south peninsula is around 332.1 millimeters. India receives two monsoon - one which lasts from June to September called the southwest monsoon, and the second one from October to December.
Winter rains are usually confined to the five subdivisions of Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalseema, Kerala and south-interior Karnataka. Tamil Nadu receives around 30 per cent of its annual rainfall during the winter months.
The southwest monsoon, which provides around 70 per cent of the country's total precipitation, was around six per cent more than normal this year, which was among the best in the last few years.
Almost all parts of the country, barring the eastern Indian states of Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, received heavy and well-distributed rainfall throughout the four-month season that starts from June and ends in September.
According to IMD, overall, India received 936.7 millimeters of rainfall during the monsoon season compared with a normal of 886.9 millimeters. The good rains have also raised hopes that India's agriculture growth in 2013-14 will be over 5 per cent, against last year's 1.79 per cent.
