Asia Update #2

Generally this past week in Asia was quiet, although there were a few exceptions.  Jal maked landfall in India, and flooding returned to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Dry weather remained firmly in place across the Koreas and parts of China.

We will start off in India, where Deep Depression Jal has made landfall just north of Chennai (Madras). Despite this system being stronger than Tomas, Jal made landfall in a better prepared country that is used to having strong cyclones make landfall. At landfall Jal had winds of 80 mph or 130 mph. The system shut down schools and businesses in the greater Chennai area. Warnings were posted for northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. After the system made landfall it became disorganized. Flooding and several fatalities have been reported. The system has continued to move off to the west and has crossed Karnataka. It will be over the Arabian Sea some time during the afternoon of Novermber 8th, local time. There is the possibility that the system could reorganize and make landfall again in either Gujarat or Pakistan, although at this time that scenario is unlikely.

In southeast Asia another round of heavy rains pounded southern Thailand and mainland Malaysia. This is associated with the on going La Niña. Similarly heavy rains caused another round of localized flooding in southern Vietnam. There is some good news though, most of the mainland part of the region was dry during the last week. This was needed for clean up efforts after several weeks of localized flooding, especially water logged northeastern Thailand. 

 
The critical snow pack in central Asia continues to get deeper from Afghanistan northward to Kazakhstan. The building up of snow during northern winter is critical for crops in the spring as the region is typically dry during the growing months. The coming week there will be some melting, although it is still very early in the season. Iran saw a heavy round of rain along the northern shore with the Caspian Sea.

More than a month of dry weather in China, North Korea and South Korea has raised some concern about up coming harvest. In some areas the dryness may facilitate the harvest by allowing people to get into the fields. However, this has been a rather long stretch without any rain, especially in North Korea. A major exception to the low rain totals is in a narrow band across southern China, stretching from Shanghai to Chongqing.

Current forecasts show an increase in rainfall across the India, mostly during the next 24 hours as Jal continues across the country. North Korea and nearby parts of China will likely pick up an inch (25 mm) of rainfall, maybe more. Heavy rains remain in place across southern Vietnam, southern Thailand,  and northern mainland Malaysia.