Monsoon showers will extend across the country by July 15, according to Indian Meteorological Department, reported The Hindu. The southwest monsoon has already made its appearance in parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The southern states are expected to face the rains in full force within the next few days.

It has been raining in Kerala for over a week now, but for that to be declared "monsoon", it needs to meet some complex standards set by the Met department. The Outgoing Longwave Radiation — an indicator of convection — has to be below 200 W/m2, among other things, for the weather forecaster to declare onset of monsoon in the country. “The Outgoing Longwave Radiation was the only value that was not being met for so far and used to vary,” DS Pai, chief forecaster at the IMD told the English daily. “That has now been met, based on latest data available on June 7. Hence we declared it [arrival of the monsoon] today.”