Southwest Monsoon sets in over Kerala, says India Meteorological Department; heavy rainfall warning issued for nine districts in state

The Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala marking the commencement of the four-month-long rainfall season, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. “The Southwest Monsoon has made an onset over Kerala,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told PTI. Private forecaster Skymet Weather on 30 May had declared arrival of monsoon, but the IMD disagreed, saying conditions were not ripe then for such an announcement. The Met department has issued heavy rainfall warning for nine districts of Kerala — Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Malappuram, and Kannur — as per the report. In April, the weather office said the country is expected to see a “normal” monsoon at 100 percent of the Long Period Average (LPA). The LPA of the season rainfall over the country as a whole for the period between 1961 and 2010 is 88 cm. [caption id=“attachment_8434611” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The IMD will issue the second stage Long Range Forecast (LRF) for South-West Monsoon Season (June to September) rainfall later on Monday,  Livemint reported. The Southwest Monsoon season, which replenishes the country’s farm-dependent economy, usually first hits the southern tip of Kerala usually in the first week of June and  retreats from Rajasthan by September.  The four-month monsoon season from June to September accounts for 75 percent of rainfall in the country. IMD Deputy Director General Anand Kumar Sharma told ANI the coastal areas up to south Gujarat will witness rain till 4 June. “As forecast a few days earlier that monsoon is going to hit Kerala on 1 June. The same has come true. Monsoon onset over Kerala has been declared today by the IMD. Its a good sign and it is raining,” Sharma said. He said that the low-pressure system, which had formed earlier, has concentrated into a depression and will further concentrate into a deep depression and cyclone in the next 24 hours. “As it moves northwards, along with coast, it will bring moisture and rains to all the coastal areas up to south Gujarat and especially from 2 to 4 June,” Sharma said. “Especially on 3 and 4 June, heavy to very heavy rains and even extremely heavy rains at one or two places are possible in north Konkan, north Madhya Maharashtra, south Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Dadra Nagar and Haveli,” he added. Sharma said that people in these areas will have to be extra careful in the coming days. “In low lying areas, where water can get accumulated, people will have to be extra careful. In mountainous regions, especially the Western Ghats and landslide-prone areas, there are possibilities of landslides as well. So, people have to be a little careful in those areas,” Sharma said. With inputs from agencies