Media Center
Climate Bulletin for Sri Lanka (Week of 24 June – 1 July 2022)
Highlights
Rainfall Prediction: During 24th-28th June, fairly heavy rainfall(>75mm) is predicted for Kalutara, Colombo & Galle districts; and showers(>55 mm) will occur in Ratnapura & Puttalam districts.
Monitored Rainfalls: During the last week,the average daily rainfall over Sri Lanka was 4.9 mm and hydro catchment areas have received 3.6 mm on average.
Monitored Wind: From 13th – 19th June, up to 8 m/s of south-westerly winds were experienced over the island.
Monitored Temperature: Sea surface temperature was observed to be above average of 0.5°C to the north, east and south of the island. Land surface temperature remained near normal.
Interpretation
Monitoring
Rainfall: During the last two weeks, there had been very heavy rainfall over the following area: Ratnapura
Daily Average Rainfall in the Met stations for previous week of (14th – 21st June) = 4.9 mm
Maximum rainfall: 78.3 mm & minimum rainfall: 0.0 mm.
Wind: South-westerly prevailed in the sea area surrounding the island last week.
Temperatures: The temperature anomalies were near-normal for the entire island, driven by the warm SST’s
Prediction
Rainfall: During the next week (24th – 28th June) fairly heavy rainfall (>75 mm) is predicted for the Kalutara, Colombo and Galle districts and showers (>55 mm) will occur in Ratnapura and Puttalam districts. The rest of the country is expected to have less rainfall
Temperatures: The temperature remains above normal in the Northern, Uva and Eastern provinces during 24th – 29th June.
Teleconnections:
La Niña – Though La Niña is favored to continue through the end of the year, the odds for La Niña decrease into the Northern Hemisphere late summer (July-September 2022) before slightly increasing through the Northern Hemisphere fall and early winter 2022.
MJO shall slightly enhance the rainfall during 22nd – 1st July; and near neutral during 2nd – 6th July
Seasonal Precipitation: The precipitation forecast for the July-August-September season shows a higher tendency for above normal precipitation for the Jaffna district, and a tendency for the neutral tercile for the rest of the districts.
Terminology for Rainfall Ranges
| Rainfall (During 24 hours of period) | |
| Light Showers | Less than 12.5 mm |
| Light to Moderate | Between 12.5 mm and 25 mm |
| Moderate | Between 25 mm and 50 mm |
| Fairly Heavy | Between 50 mm and 100 mm |
| Heavy | Between 100 mm and 150 mm |
| Very Heavy | More than 150 mm |
