Temperatures are normal or below in most parts of India due to rainfall, and there will be no heatwave conditions for the next five days. The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala is likely to take place in two or three days as conditions are favourable for further advancement, said the IMD.
The western Himalayan region is likely to receive rainfall due to active western disturbance, while Delhi will have cloudy conditions for the next two days, said RK Jenamani from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Jenamani said monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to take place in two to three days as conditions are favourable for further advancement. “Southwest monsoon has advanced into more parts of south Arabian Sea and parts of Lakshadweep. In the last 24 hours, cloud cover has increased over Kerala coast and southeast Arabian Sea,” he added.
The IMD said most parts of northwest and central India, however, are likely to experience a gradual increase in maximum temperatures by two to three notches over the next three days.
The weather department has predicted widespread light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorm or lightning over Kerala and Lakshadweep, and isolated to scattered rainfall over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal over the next five days under the influence of westerly winds blowing from the Arabian Sea.
It also forecast scattered light to moderate rainfall with isolated thunderstorms over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in the next four days. Isolated rainfall over Uttarakhand, north Punjab, north Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and East Rajasthan is likely in the next two to three days.
The advance of the southwest monsoon has been sluggish, seeing as the seasonal rains are the lifeline of India’s agri-based economy. Earlier, the IMD had predicted the onset over Kerala on Friday with help from Cyclone Asani that struck the Bay of Bengal two weeks ago. The forecast had a model error of four days.
But, according to the Met, influence of the remnants of weather systems lingering over the southern peninsula petered out and led to a delay in the predicted early onset over Kerala and swift progress towards the north.
The IMD declares the onset of monsoon over Kerala if 60 per cent of 14 weather stations in the state and Lakshadweep receive 2.5 mm or more rainfall for two consecutive days, aided by favourable windfield and outgoing longwave radiation. The IMD declared the onset of monsoon over Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 16.
“The monsoon has now reached the latitude of Kerala. However, the distribution of rainfall in the state is still not proper for the declaration of the onset,” tweeted Akshay Deoras, a monsoon researcher with Britain-based University of Reading.
He added: “Forecasts continue to suggest that the onset could happen sometime between 30 May and 2 June, and it will not be robust.” (sic)
(With PTI inputs)
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment