The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday said favourable conditions for the onset of the southwest monsoon may not reach Kerala before June 8. A forecast on Saturday had predicted the arrival of the monsoon on June 6, and another on Tuesday had said it would be delayed till June 7.
The monsoon usually reaches the southern tip of Kerala around June 1.
In a bulletin on Wednesday evening, the weather department said: “An east-west shear zone between 3.1 and 4.5 km above mean sea level runs...across Maldives-Comorin area. It is very likely to shift northwards, gradually leading to favourable conditions for onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala around June 8. Conditions are likely to become favourable for advance of southwest monsoon into some parts of northeastern states during next three to four days.”
The Met department has forecast a normal monsoon this season. Several parts of the country have been affected by an intense heatwave, with maximum temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius in some regions. “Heat wave to severe heat wave conditions very likely to prevail over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha during next three to four days,” the bulletin said.
Heat wave conditions are likely to persist over isolated pockets of East Rajasthan, South Haryana, South Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
A thunderstorm with winds gusting up to 50 km per hour is expected to bring relief from the heat in isolated parts of Chhattisgarh, Central Maharashtra, Rayalaseema, Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. The weather department has also forecast a thunderstorm or duststorm accompanied at isolated places over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and West Uttar Pradesh.
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