Sri Lanka It's Happening

May 15, 2005

Towards the early part of May we had a few showers in the morning. And the rainfall in the evening appeared heavier than it was during the month of April. That is usually an indication that the South-West monsoon is about to break.

Unfortunately it was not to be since the first morning showers we have had some extremely warm days with not even a drop of rain falling. In Sri Lanka when we say very hot what we really mean is hot and humid. During the worst days the mercury never went above 32'C but the humidity was very very high. The atmosphere was almost staturated.

The rains are partly to blame for the high levels of humidity, with so much water lying on the ground it's only natural that they evaporate to increase the percentage of water vapour in the atmosphere.

Such high levels of humidity usually means evening showers, The unique geographic features of Sri Lanka can be thanked for that, but I digress.

The monsoon is accompanied by strong winds. During some days of the month, there is no wind at all. If you look at a tree you will hardly see a leaf tremble. A little while ago, I returned from the beach near Wellawatte, where the breeze was very strong and the waves were choppy.

So all in all, we have some signs that point to a monsoon and we have some signs that point to a dry spell. This time last year the monsoon was well underway. In other countries the simple solution is to call the weatherman. Unfortunately in our country the Met. department didn't answer the phone when the earthquake monitoring centers called to warn of a tsunami. Will they answer the phone if you just call to ask about the monsoon?

Posted by raditha at May 15, 2005 10:59 AM