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Vinson Kurian

Thiruvananthapuram , June 5

THE southwest monsoon has set in along the Kerala coast with the first few showers, accompanied by thunder activity, lashing Thiruvananthapuram and a few other centres early Sunday morning.

An India Meteorological Department (IMD) update said monsoon has advanced into Kerala and also into some parts of South Arabian Sea, parts of Tamil Nadu and Southwest Bay of Bengal.

Chief amounts of rainfall received till 8.30 a.m. on Sunday are (in cm): Kumarakom-9; Minicoy - 8; Varkala - 6; Kozhikode Airport and Kochi Airport - 3 each; Kollam, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram - 2 each.

The northern limit of the monsoon passed through Kochi, and the landfall was more pronounced in that city, Mr M. D. Ramachandran, Director of the Met Office here, said. He refused to classify the onset as either `weak' or `strong'.

Dr P.V. Joseph, renowned expert on monsoon, told Business Line said that bulk of the monsoon currents was still wallowing off the southern parts of the State. According to him, the amount of rainfall recorded on Sunday did not justify a full-scale onset.

Both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram witnessed bright and sunny weather during most part of the day. But clouds had started building up along the Capital City's skyline towards the evening.

The IMD weather update said that Saturday's cyclonic circulation over Southwest Bay of Bengal, lying between 1.5 km and 5.8 km above sea level and tilting southwards with height, persisted.

The seasonal trough at sea level ran from West Rajasthan to Coastal Orissa through Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and packed cyclonic circulations over West Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

It forecast rain/thundershowers at many places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and at a few places in the rest of the region.

Outlook for subsequent two days said the increased rainfall activity over the southern peninsula would continue. Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been forecast for a few places over Kerala and Lakshadweep. Isolated heavy rainfall is likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands and coastal Karnataka.

In its long-range forecast, IMD had said that the June-September southwest monsoon rains would be 98 per cent of the long-period average.

However, the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computing (C-MMACS), the Bangalore-based researched body, had raised a scare by forecasting that June rainfall will be in deficit by as much as 34 per cent.

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