Monsoon Stays Weak Over Kerala, To Cover Eastern India By June 15. Delhi In Grip Of Heatwave

Despite the early arrival, the monsoon is making a slow progress in Kerala. Meanwhile, Delhi experiences another spell heatwave with the temperature climbing up to 45 degrees.

Thunderstorms hit the city of Thiruvananthapuram.

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New Delhi: Kerala monsoon which arrived three days earlier than the estimated date is making slow progress in the month of June which is when the rainfall usually begins. As compared to the first few days of monsoon in the past years, the rainfall is deficient by over 50%, the Thiruvananthapuram met department said on Sunday. Thiruvananthapuram also experienced a high temperature of 32 degrees which is unusual for the early days of the monsoon. While the average rainfall was 6-8 cm in the first few days, this time the highest recorded rainfall was 5 cm in Mancopmpu of Alappuzha district on Friday.

This is likely because there has been no active weather system to boost the rainfall, said the Met department.

“The monsoon has not reached its active mode yet. There hasn’t been any active weather system and no strong winds, because of which we are only seeing light rain in the state,” said an official of the Met Department as quoted in a report by the Hindustan Times. 

The southwest monsoon is considered the lifeline of Kerala, it usually begins on June 1 all the way to July 15. Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster, says the influence of a cyclonic circulation over Sri Lanka and a westerly wind from the Arabian Sea can trigger widespread rains in the next couple of days. Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in Kerala between June 7 and 10, Skymet said.

Monsoon patterns have seen changes in the past few years, rainfall is becoming stronger towards the end of the season in August and September, weather experts said.

During the pre-monsoon rainfall this year, the state received an excess of 94% excess of rainfall from March 1 to May 18 at 460 mm compared with the average of 235 mm which has affected crops, including vegetables and paddy harvest.  

According to climate experts, the Cumulonimbus clouds formed unseasonally due to the warming of the Arabian Sea, which resulted in high water holding capacity that triggered erratic heavy downpours.

Delhi sees another heatwave

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Delhi was under the grip of the heatwave with the mercury breaching the 45-degree Celsius mark in six localities. At the Safdarjung Observatory, the city's base station, the maximum temperature settled at 44.2 degrees Celsius as against 43.9 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 42.9 degrees Celsius on Friday.

The mercury jumped to 47.3 degrees, seven notches above normal, at Mungeshpur, making it the hottest place in the capital.

Sports Complex, Pitampura, Najafgarh, Jafarpur, and Ridge recorded a high of 46.6 degrees Celsius, 46.2 degrees Celsius, 46.3 degrees Celsius, 45.1 degrees Celsius and 45.7 degrees Celsius respectively.

The Met Office issued a "yellow" alert, warning of heatwave conditions at isolated places in Delhi on Monday.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (climate change and meteorology), Skymet Weather, said Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh may see pre-monsoon activity on and off from June 10. The maximum temperature in the capital may drop to 40-41 degrees Celsius by Saturday.