Monsoon to hit Kerala by June 4: Meteorological Department

The delayed onset has added to the concerns on the monsoon front this year.

Monsoon, failure, Monsoon season, Average rainfall

IMD maps show that the monsoon has been almost static since May 25 in the Indian Ocean.

Having already proved the forecasters wrong on the date it will arrive on the Indian mainland, the monsoon will give a miss to its normal date of onset over Kerala as well. The Indian Meteorological Department says that the monsoon onset is not likely to happen before June 4. The normal date of onset over Kerala is June 1, while the IMD had predicted that this year it will happen on May 29, two days in advance.

“There is anti-cyclone system prevailing in the Arabian Sea which is not allowing the monsoon winds to progress towards the land.

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The monsoon has not yet gained enough strength to overcome the effects of the anti-cyclone. Our reading is that it would take another 2-3 days before it reaches the Kerala coast,” D Sivananda Pai of the IMD said.

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IMD maps show that the monsoon has been almost static since May 25 in the Indian Ocean, its northward progress having been halted. Pre-monsoon showers, however, have been happening in Kerala for the past one week. Thiruvananthapuram received 10 mm of rain on Sunday.

The delayed onset has added to the concerns on the monsoon front this year. The weathermen have already predicted a less than normal rain in the four-month monsoon season of June to September this year.

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