The India Meteorological Department said on Monday that the southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala, PTI reported. The weather department had late last month predicted that the monsoon would hit Kerala on June 1 or 2.
“Kerala received very good rains and monsoon is advancing well,” National Weather Forecasting Centre head K Sathi Devi said, according to the Hindustan Times. “The very strong winds are moving towards the westerly and south-westerly direction. All the parameters for the onset of monsoon have been met.”
The weather department declares the onset of the monsoon when 60% of its 14 stations enlisted in Lakshadweep, Kerala and coastal Karnataka report over 2.5 mm rainfall or more for two consecutive days after May 10, along with strong westerly winds. A timely start to the monsoon in Kerala, as in this year, means it will spread all over the country by July 15.
The Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts are likely to be hit by a cyclonic storm from the Arabian Sea by June 3, a day which is also expected to bring heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts. On Sunday, the weather department issued an orange alert from Mumbai and Thane, and a red alert for Palghar.
The well-marked low-pressure area over the Southeast and adjoining East-Central Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep area formed a depression on Monday morning, the IMD said. It is expected to intensify into a deep depression by Monday night, and a severe cyclonic storm, called Nisarga, by Wednesday.
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