Monsoon onset delayed, may hit Kerala by June 3, says IMD

The southwest monsoon is expected to be delayed by two days and rains may hit the Kerala coast on June 3 instead of June 1, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“The delay is because of the weak westerly winds near the Kerala coast, which is why rainfall and cloudiness are not increasing,” director-general of IMD Mritunjay Mohapatra told

The Met department added that due to strengthening of the lower level southwesterly winds, fairly widespread rainfall activity is likely over the Northeastern states during the next five days. The normal onset date for the monsoon over Kerala is June 1. This marks the start of the four-month rainy season in the country.

Earlier this month, the IMD had predicted the arrival of monsoon over Kerala by May 31, with an error margin of plus or minus five days. The monsoon is expected to be normal this year. In contrast, private weather forecasting agency Skymet said the southwest monsoon has, in fact, already arrived over Kerala on Sunday.

“A set of environmental

SKYMET, HOWEVER, SAYS SOUTHWEST MONSOON HAS ALREADY MADE AN ONSET OVER THE STATE

conditions need to be fulfilled as a criterion for the arrival of monsoon. By and large, all parameters have satisfied the required threshold, essentially the rainfall, depth and speed of westerly winds over the Southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean. Rainfall amounts are verified from the available data on the official website,” Skymet said in a statement.

It added that in the absence of any major monsoon trigger, the onset may be slightly mild.