Monsoon to make rapid progress after Kerala landfall, says IMD; likely to reach Mumbai by 8 June

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has updated its forecast, after news came in that the monsoon made landfall on Tuesday. The Southwest Monsoon, which normally makes landfall in Kerala in the first week of June, arrived a couple of days ahead of schedule this year, the IMD said. The agency also said monsoon will make rapid progress northwards after 4 June.

The report on The Indian Express said that one of the possible reasons for the monsoon making touchdown ahead of schedule could be the rapid advancement of Cyclone Mora, which has crossed the Bangladesh coast, wrecking destruction over the northern Bay of Bengal and leaving more than 300,000 homeless.

Although, the dates given by the IMD are subject to a four-day buffer, it can go beyond that. Last year, the IMD forecast said that monsoon will make landfall in Mumbai on 12 June, but it was not until 20 June that it did. And this happened despite monsoon making landfall in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 14 May last year, three days ahead of schedule.

A report on Hindustan Times said this is unlikely to happen again this year, and the city will keep its date with the monsoon for between 8 June and 10 June. “On the basis of the currents and movement of the Southwest Monsoon from Kerala onwards, the probable date for it set over Mumbai and the rest of the Konkan coast is between 8 and 10 June,” said Sunita Devi, director, weather central, IMD Pune.

If this does happen, it will be good news for a country heavily dependent on the monsoon to for its water requirement. Large parts of the country suffered from drought, and it’s critical that the rains this year don’t disappoint. After all, there are economic and social and political fallouts from another monsoon failure, as this video will show:

IMD officials from the capital also confirmed that the monsoon was moving fast over the southern peninsula and will soon cover the entire country. “Over the next three to four days, the Southwest Monsoon will cover coastal, southern parts of Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, head of IMD’s weather forecasting services.