Monsoon rains arrive in Kerala: weather officials

New Delhi: Monsoon onset was declared in Kerala on Friday, five days later than the date forecast for the arrival of monsoon in the Indian mainland. “The rainfall over Kerala has been fairly widespread to widespread for the last 48 hours,” said a press release by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The government weather forecaster said that out of the 14 rainfall monitoring stations for monsoon onset over Kerala, more than 70% have reported rainfall higher than 2.5 mm for two consecutive days.

This would mark the beginning of the June to September monsoon season which brings more than 70% of India’s annual rainfall. IMD had on Tuesday further downgraded its forecast saying that there is now a 66% chance of deficient rainfall this monsoon season.

IMD said monsoon has further advanced into entire Lakshadweep area and Kerala, some parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the next 48 hours, southwest monsoon is expected to further advance into some more parts, Karnataka; remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and southern parts of northeastern states.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.