Monsoon arrives in Kerala, two days ahead of usual onset

Spurred on by cyclonic storm Mora that developed over Bay of Bengal on Sunday, the southwest monsoon rains arrived in Kerala and parts of northeastern states on Tuesday, two days ahead of its normal onset date of June 1.

The southwest monsoon rains drive the country's agrarian economy as it is the major source of irrigation for summer crops. "Southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala today and it has also advanced into some parts of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its statement on Tuesday.

IMD announced the monsoon's arrival as the three crucial parameters of consistent rainfall across 14 weather stations and coastal Karnataka, strong westerly winds and outgoing longwave radiation have been fulfilled. "Kerala has already received widespread rainfall over the past two days and 78 per cent of stations that are monitored for monsoon's onset over Kerala have reported rainfall for the last 48 hours," the IMD said.

Earlier in April, the IMD said that the country is going to receive normal monsoon rains, which will be 96 per cent of the season's average rainfall, which is 890mm. Following its onset, the southwest is expected to advance at a steady pace into remaining parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, south Arabian Sea and remaining parts of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

"The monsoon has arrived before time as per our forecast and will make good progress on the country's western coast. It is likely to reach Goa by June 7. In comparison to the west coast, the progress will be a little sluggish on the eastern coast," said KJ Ramesh, director-general, IMD. Ramesh added that the cyclonic storm Mora played its part in rapid progress of monsoon from the Bay of Bengal toward the mainland. "The cyclonic circulation helped in monsoon's arrival ahead of time. The weather systems created by storms bring in a greater incursion of moisture," Ramesh added.

Last year, the monsoon arrived a week late on June 8 and even its progress in other parts of the country was slow. The monsoon's progress, though, is not directly correlated with its onset, weather officials said.