The Hindu Business Line : Monsoon sets in over Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram May 28 Southwest monsoon set in over Kerala on Monday, four days earlier than normal, but failing the original seven-day outlook window mounted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) by a whisker.

In a departure from convention, no simultaneous onset was declared in North-East India thanks to the near-dormant Bay of Bengal arm of monsoon, which is yet to recover from the massive loss of kinetic energy released through Cyclone Akash and Category-4 storm Typhoon Yutu in the west Pacific.

The onset over Kerala was declared based on the strengthening and deepening of flow over the Arabian Sea and south peninsula; development of an offshore trough extending from Karnataka to Kerala coast; persistent cloudiness and continued widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls over the last two days.

The intensity of the flow was so strong that the system covered the entire Kerala State and parts of Tamil Nadu on the first day itself, said Dr K.J. Ramesh of the Department of Science and Technology. Normally, the region up to Kochi in central Kerala gets covered in the initial burst.

But there was no `onset vortex' in sight, Dr Ramesh said. Onset vortex is a low-pressure system (trough, low, depression) that generally forms over the east central Arabian Sea on the leading edge of the monsoon flow. It usually brings the monsoon current and sets the monsoon over the south peninsular India.

As of Monday, the monsoon covered the entire Kerala, some parts of south Arabian Sea, extreme southern parts of Tamil Nadu and some more parts of south Bay of Bengal. Conditions are favourable for its further advancement into parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka and of Tamil Nadu during the next 48 hours.

The easterly sweep of the rain belt is unusual, and is brought about by the movement into these parts of the westerly trough that commandeered the monsoon flow to precipitate the onset in the manner it did on Monday. This rain front is tipped to end in a `blow up' over the north Tamil Nadu and south coastal Andhra Pradesh coast over the next few days.

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