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Friday, December 23, 2022

Climate Bulletin For Sri Lanka (23 December 2022)

          

Highlights          


 • Due to the low pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal, fairly heavy rainfall is predicted for the Eastern, Sabaragamuwa and Western provinces during 22nd - 28th DecemberSeasonal forecast shows higher tendency for above normal precipitation to the country for  January - March, 2023.
 • During the last week, maximum daily rainfall over Sri Lanka was 106.6 mm & hydro catchment areas received 83.0 mm on maximum and the highest average rainfall (10.1 mm) was received Eastern plains of the country.
 • From 13th - 19th Dec, up to 8m/s of north easterly winds were experienced at 850 mb level over the island. Strong winds and rough seas are expected for following days due to the effect of low pressure area in vicinity of the country
 • Sea surface temperature around Sri Lanka was above normal to the western, eastern, and southern half of the country. Land surface temperature remained near normal



Predictions

Rainfall

14-day prediction: 
NOAA NCEP models: 
From 22nd December – 28th December:
Total rainfall by Provinces:   
  • 55 mm - Eastern, Western, Sabaragamuwa
  • 45 mm - Northern, Central, Southern, North Western, North Central, Uva
From 29th December – 4th January:
Total rainfall by Provinces:   
  • 35 mm - Eastern
  • 25 mm - Western, North Central, Northern
  • ≤ 15 mm - Southern, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North Western, Uva
MJO based OLR predictions:
For the next 15 days: 
MJO shall near neutral the rainfall during 22nd December – 26th December, and moderately suppress the rainfall during 27th December – 5th January for Sri Lanka.

Ocean State (Text Courtesy IRI)
Pacific Sea Sate: December 19, 2022 
Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are below average across most of the Pacific Ocean mid - December. The tropical Pacific atmosphere is consistent with La Niña. A large majority of the models indicate La Niña is favored to continue into the winter, with equal chances of La Niña and ENSO-neutral during January-March 2023. In February-April 2023, there is a 71% chance of ENSO-neutral.

Indian Sea Sate
Sea surface temperature around Sri Lanka was above 0.5℃ to the western, eastern, and southern half of the country in 30th November, 2022. Across the Indian Ocean, a classical negative Indian Ocean Dipole prevails as is typical during a La Niña.

 

Interpretation


Monitoring
Rainfall: 
During the last two weeks, there had been very heavy rainfall over the following area: Trincomalee

Daily Average Rainfall in the Met stations for previous week of (13th December – 20th December) =

7.7 mm

Rmax: 106.6 mm & Rmin: 0.0 mm.


Region

Average rainfall for the Last 8 days

Northern Plains

7.5 mm

Eastern

10.1 mm

Western

6.0 mm

Southern Plains

3.8 mm


The Hydro Catchment Areas recorded 8.1 mm of average rainfall for the last week

Rmax: 83.0 mm & Rmin: 0.0 mm.

Wind:
North easterly winds prevailed in the sea area and around the island last week.
Temperature: 
The temperature anomalies were below normal for some parts of the North Western, North Central, and Central provinces, driven by the warm SST’s.


Predictions
Rainfall:
During the next week (22nd Dec – 28th Dec), fairly heavy rainfall is predicted for the Eastern, Western, and Sabaragamuwa provinces; and ≥ 45 mm rainfall is expected for the rest of the country.
Temperature:
The temperature will remain below normal for some parts of the Central, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa provinces during 23rd – 29th December.
Teleconnections:
La Niña is favored to continue into the winter, with equal chances of La Niña and ENSO-neutral during January-March 2023.
MJO shall near neutral the rainfall during 22nd December – 26th December, and moderately suppress the rainfall during 27th December – 5th January for Sri Lanka.

Seasonal Precipitation: 
The precipitation forecast for the January-February-March 2023 season shows a higher tendency for above-normal precipitation to the country.

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