The southwest monsoon has arrived in Kerala today, eight days ahead of its scheduled date of 1st June, marking the earliest onset in the last 16 years. India Meteorological Department has said this is the earliest date of monsoon onset over Kerala after the year 2009.
The IMD said that conditions are favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon over Goa, some parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Central and North Bay of Bengal, Northeastern states, West Bengal and Sikkim during next 2 to 3 days.
The weather department has issued a red alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall over Kerala, Mahe, Costal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa. It also forecast heavy rainfall over parts of Central, East and Northwest India.
Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and gusty winds is also expected at isolated places over Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, East Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.
Meanwhile, the IMD said that heat wave to severe heatwave is likely to prevail over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Punjab and some parts of Rajasthan.
The Met department has confirmed that the monsoon that normally sets on June 1st, has already made its appearance in Kerala today. In 2009, the South West Monsoon had set in Kerala on May 23rd and in 1990 it had appeared on May 19th.
In this year too the monsoon has set before the normal time. The weather report further says that the northern limit of the South West Monsoon is now passing through Karwar, Shivamogga, Hassan and Mysuru in Karnataka and over Dharmapuri and Chennai in Tamilnadu.
Akashvani Correspondent reports,the Met department has forecast very heavy rain with isolated extreme rains over coastal Karnataka and Western ghats districts of Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur and Hassan till May 30th. They are put under red alert.
The North Karnataka districts of Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri are under orange alert and Bengaluru and surrounding areas are under Yellow alert. Dark clouds with high winds and intermittent rains are lashing in coastal Karnataka.
The prediction of above normal rainfall has brought cheers to farmers expecting a good harvest.
The arrival of copious rainfall will fill the reservoirs and help agriculture. However, the district administrations are also preparing for calamities and rain-led diseases.
The districts prone to floods and landslides are taking preventive measures and the health department has been alerted for dengue and malaria outbreaks.
Meanwhile, several districts in Maharashtra are experiencing incessant rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for two districts and an orange alert for seven districts today.
Akashvani correspondent reports, The IMD has issued a red alert for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, forecasting extremely heavy rainfall.
Surrounding districts, including Ahmednagar, Pune, Raigad, Satara, Kolhapur, and the eastern districts of Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, are under an orange alert, indicating the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall today.
Mumbai, the state capital, has been enveloped in heavy cloud cover since morning, accompanied by intermittent light drizzles.
The neighbouring Raigad district has been experiencing continuous rainfall with thunderstorms since midnight, disrupting daily life. Jalna district and several parts of Sangli district have also been witnessing extremely heavy rainfall.
