Monsoon Likely To Hit Kerala In Next 2-3 Days, Says IMD

Onset of monsoon over Kerala is declared if 60 per cent of 14 weather stations in Kerala and Lakshadweep receive 2.5 mm or more rainfall over two consecutive days, along with favourable windfield.

New Delhi: The southwest monsoon is expected to hit the southern state of Kerala over the next two to three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Earlier, the weather department had forecast the onset of seasonal rains on May 27 with the help of remnants of Cyclone Asani that struck the Bay the Bengal a fortnight back.  

According to a report by news agency PTI, the latest weather indications show that the westerly winds have strengthened and deepened in the lower levels over the south Arabian Sea. There is also an increase in cloudiness over Kerala coast and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea, satellite imagery shows. Hence, conditions are becoming favourable for monsoon to set in over Kerala during the next 2-3 days, the IMD said.

The weather office had earlier predicted the onset of monsoon over Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 16.

According to IMD, onset of monsoon over Kerala is declared if 60 per cent of 14 weather stations in Kerala and Lakshadweep receive 2.5 mm or more rainfall over two consecutive days, along with favourable windfield.

“The monsoon has now reached the latitude of Kerala. However, the distribution of rainfall in the state is still not proper for the declaration of the onset," Akshay Deoras, a monsoon researcher with Britain-based University of Reading, said on Twitter.

He added, "Forecasts continue to suggest that the onset could happen sometime between 30 May and 2 June, and it will not be robust.”

As per the latest IMD forecast, widespread light/moderate rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning is likely over Kerala and Lakshadweep and isolated to scattered rainfall over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal over the next five days. This is due to the influence of westerly winds blowing from the Arabian Sea.

Scattered light/moderate rainfall with isolated thunderstorms over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh is also likely during the next four days, IMD said.

It also predicted isolated rainfall over Uttarakhand, north Punjab, north Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and east Rajasthan during the next two to three days.

As per IMD, most parts of northwest and central India are likely to experience a gradual increase in maximum temperatures by two to three degrees Celsius over the next three days.