Private forecaster Skymet declared the arrival of monsoon over Kerala on Monday but the India Met Department (IMD) said it would wait for one more day to confirm.
A PTI report quoted Skymet CEO Jatin Singh as saying that “there are monsoon-like conditions over Kerala and we can say that the annual rainfall season has arrived.”
Earlier, Skymet had said in its outlook that the monsoon would hit Kerala on May 28 while the IMD had indicated that the rains may arrive a day later.
The IMD said in its evening bulletin on Monday that the monsoon had advanced into the Maldives-Comorin area only, next door to Kerala, and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea.
On the Bay of Bengal side, it had entered the South-West basin (off Tamil Nadu), most parts of the South-East basin and remaining parts of Andaman Sea, where it had entered on Friday. Rains have reached the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, many parts of East-Central Bay and some parts of West-Central and North-East Bay.
‘Conditions favourable’
According to the IMD, conditions are becoming favourable for advance of monsoon into remaining parts of Comorin-Maldives, parts of Lakshadweep, Kerala and Tamil Nadu by Tuesday. It would run over the remaining Kerala, some parts of Coastal and Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the North-Eastern States during the next two to three days.
The well-marked low-pressure over South-East Arabian Sea off Kerala-Karnataka coasts and a counterpart ‘low’ over East-Central Bay, which is expected to intensify by Tuesday, are ensuring the smooth progress of the Monsoon.
Lording it over from above was an East-West shear zone of monsoon turbulence, an essential feature associated with the seasonal rainfall, known otherwise as the ‘monsoon playground’ in the heights.
‘Ideal settings’
The sea-based settings are just ideal and the best a monsoon could have asked for, according to Kanti Prasad, meteorologist and Chief Consultant at private forecaster Weather Risk Management Services.
He told BusinessLine that the monsoon is expected to progress as per its known schedule; he would not be surprised if it reaches Mumbai two to three days ahead of June-10.
Meanwhile, pre-monsoon showers till now (March 1 to May 23) have been normal to excess over the South Peninsula, East-Central India, and even parts of North-West India, which have brought down the seasonal deficit to 13 per cent. The rain (in percentage figure) was in excess over Lakshadweep (88); Coastal Karnataka (66); South Interior Karnataka (51); North Interior Karnataka (48); Telangana (32); Odisha (27); Rayalaseema (23); and Kerala (20).