Media Center
Climate Bulletin for Sri Lanka (Week of 8 – 15 July 2022)
Highlights
Rainfall Prediction: Moderate rainfall (25mm-50mm) is predicted for the Colombo, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle and Matara districts. The rest of the country is expected to have less rainfall during 8th – 12th July.
Monitored Rainfalls: During the last week, hydro catchment areas have received 14.5mm of rainfall on average. On July 2nd, nearly one-foot high waves flooded into the land along the Colombo-Matara main road due to rough seas.
Monitored Wind: From 27th June – 3rd July, up to 15m/s of westerly to south-westerly winds were experienced over the island.
Monitored Temperature: Sea surface temperature was above average of 0.5°C around Sri Lanka. Land surface temperature remained near normal.
Interpretation
Monitoring
Rainfall: During the last two weeks, there had been heavy rainfall over the following area: Norton
Daily Average Rainfall in the Met stations for previous week of (28th June – 5th July) = 1.5 mm
Rainfall max: 31.1 mm & Rainfall min: 0.0 mm.
Wind: Westerly to south-westerly prevailed in the sea area surrounding the island last week.
Temperatures: The temperature anomalies were above normal for southern half of the country and below normal for the north-central province, driven by the warm SST’s.
Prediction
Rainfall: During the next week (8th- 12th July) moderate rainfall is predicted for the Colombo, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle and Matara districts. The rest of the country is expected to have less rainfall.
Temperatures: The temperature remains above normal in the North-central, Uva and Eastern provinces during 8th – 13th July.
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-September2022) before slightly increasing
through the Northern Hemisphere fall and early winter 2022.
MJO shall near neutral during 6th- 10th July; and slightly suppress the rainfall during 11th- 20th 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 for the rest of the districts there is a tendency to the neutral tercile.
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 |
