Visakhapatnam: The Southwest monsoon arrived over Kerala on the western coast on Thursday, a little ahead of schedule. The state experienced heavy rains throughout the day. Weather agencies had predicted the monsoon’s arrival on June 1, with an error margin of +/- 3 days.
Simultaneously, the monsoon arrived over the entire northeast. The northern course of the monsoon is through Amini Devi, Kannur, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Agartala and Dhubri.
The last time such a simultaneous arrival occurred was in 2017 but Manipur and Mizoram were covered in the first few days.
Weatherman said the southwest monsoon is likely to set in over AP on June 4 though the present conditions were not favourable. Heat wave conditions prevailed in Kavali, Ongole and Bapatla, but it might rain in AP from June 2, marking the arrival of the monsoon a day later, said an IMD Amaravati report.
Private weather tracking agency, Skymet, said the monsoon arrived on May 19 over the South Andaman Sea, a little ahead of schedule. It normally covered the northeastern states by June 5, five days after its foray into Kerala.
Its further advancement may be slow and weak. As per normal dates, the monsoon arrives over Goa by June 5 and covers Konkan, south Madhya Maharashtra and a small portion of Marathwada by June 10.
Northeast India will have good rains next week. However, the rains may not be forceful for the South Peninsula, covering Tamil Nadu, south coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka and the Rayalaseema region.
The main triggers for the advancement of the monsoon currents are either the offshore trough over the Arabian Sea, off the Kerala-coastal Karnataka or some vortex moving along the coast of Kerala and Karnataka.
Also, any circulation or presence of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal takes the monsoon current further over the interiors of peninsular India. Otherwise, advancement, if any, will be weak and rainfall will be scattered.
IMD Amaravati predicted heavy rains accompanied by lightning are likely at isolated places over north-coastal and south-coastal AP, Yanam and Rayalaseema from Friday till June 3. Strong winds with speeds of 30-40kmph are likely over these areas during this period.
