Southwest monsoon to regain pulse in two days; IMD predicts strong winds, increasing rain over Andaman and Nicobar Islands

As the southwest monsoon lost its pulse in the Indian mainland for a week after its onset, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the weather conditions are progressing for its further advance into some more parts of the south Bay of Bengal, Andaman Islands and north Andaman Sea between 29 and 30 May. According to IMD, this year, the monsoon in Kerala is expected to be delayed and has set 6 June as the day of onset while, private forecaster Skymet Weather has advanced it by two days to 4 June, The Tribune reported. [caption id=“attachment_6714451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Suggestive of strengthening of winds and increasing rain over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the IMD has warned off rough seas over the region until Friday. Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy falls may also break out over Assam, Meghalaya and the hills of Bengal as well as over Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura,  The Hindu Business Line reported. The Thailand Met Department assessed that the monsoon is presently ‘moderate’ over the Andaman Sea and the South East Bay with cloudy to partly cloudy skies elsewhere over the Bay of Bengal. But its prediction until Friday warned of swells rising up to to six feet in both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, and to almost 10 feet in the Andaman Sea, especially in the thundershower areas. All passing ships are suggested to take precautionary measures. The Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology persists with its outlook for the formation of a low-pressure area in the Bay during this period. In the meantime, temperatures are expected to rise by 2 to 3°C over major parts of north-west India — Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and the hill states — during the next four to five days. Temperatures are also expected to remain above normal by 2-3°C over some parts of the south peninsula in the next three days. Witnessing rains below the Long Period Average (LPA) during pre-monsoon season is suggestive of seasonal rains to arrive at a time when half of India faces drought. According to The Tribune, in 2019, the cumulative rainfall during pre-monsoon season between 1 March and 22 May is below LPA by 23 percent — northwest by 31 percent, south peninsula by 41 percent, central India by 8 percent and east and the North East by 11 percent. On Monday, heat wave conditions were observed over parts of Vidarbha and pockets of Telangana, Marathwada, Odisha and Madhya Maharashtra. Maximum temperatures were appreciably above normal (3.1°C to 5°C) in some places in these regions.