After hitting Kerala, southwest monsoon to further advance into India: IMD

After a week-long delay in the onset of monsoon in Kerala, the India Meteorological Department predicted a further advancement of the southwest monsoon into South Arabian Sea, most parts of Lakshadweep, Kerala, south Tamil Nadu, and some parts of east India till Tuesday.

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala):After a week-long delay in the arrival of monsoon in the coastal state of Kerala, the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted a further advancement of the southwest monsoon in the South Arabian Sea, most parts of Lakshadweep and some parts of Kerala and south Tamil Nadu among other regions.

It also pointed out that the conditions were becoming favourable for the monsoon to advance into some parts of Northeastern states over the next 48 hours till Tuesday.

"Conditions were favourable for further progress of the Southwest monsoon into the remaining parts of South Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kerala, some more parts of Tamil Nadu, southwest-, southeast-, east-central- and northeast Bay of Bengal and some parts of central Arabian Sea and west-central Bay of Bengal till Tuesday, " said IMD in a statement issued to the press.

In its advisory to the fishermen, the IMD asked them not to venture into the sea as wind speed was expected to be as high as 60 kmph.

The onset of the monsoon over Kerala was forecast to be June 1, but it only hit the coast on Saturday.

Pre-monsoon rainfall recorded this time is just 99 mm against the normal 131.5mm, the driest pre-monsoon season in 65 years.

On Friday, the IMD sounded a red alert in four districts ahead of the onset of southwest monsoons in Kerala within 24 hours. The districts that were asked to remain vigilant are Thrissur, Ernakulam, Malappuram, and Kozhikode.