Super Typhoon Dolphin in Pacific threatens to weaken India's monsoon rains

Key facts

• Super Typhoon Dolphin, an intense tropical cyclone in the western Pacific, has sustained winds exceeding 175 km/h and gusts reaching up to 210 km/h.
• The typhoon has brought high sea swells, gale-force winds, and rainfall of 100 mm to 350 mm to Japan's Daito, Ogasawara, and Ryukyu Islands.
• Meteorological models project Typhoon Dolphin to pass Taiwan and make landfall on China's eastern coast in Zhejiang, near Wenzhou or Taizhou, between August 8 and August 10.
• The typhoon can weaken India's monsoon by siphoning moisture from the Bay of Bengal, suppressing the low-pressure systems and depressions that drive monsoon rains.
• Typhoon Dolphin may also displace the monsoon trough and disrupt rain-bearing winds, potentially causing dry spells in interior agricultural belts.
• Coastal western regions such as Kerala may temporarily experience enhanced westerly winds and heavy coastal rain.
• Experts say the typhoon is unlikely to trigger a prolonged, full-scale break-monsoon period, and the duration of rain suppression depends on how rapidly the typhoon dissipates after landfall.