Comments
The India Met Department has put out a watch for a monsoon depression to form in the Arabian Sea as a preparatory low-pressure area gained in strength there on Thursday.
The storm is brewing over Southeast and adjoining East-central Arabian Sea off the Karnataka coast, as per indications available.
High winds alert A 24-hour warning issued by the local weather office said that strong onshore winds from a south-westerly direction speed up to 55 km/hr may lash Kerala coast and over Lakshadweep area.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Kerala during this period. Thiruvananthapuram witnessed scattered showers during overnight and into the day on Thursday.
The month of October witnesses a shift in the seasonal winds from south-westerly monsoon to north-easterly monsoon. The resulting instability in the atmosphere kicks up violent storms during this phase.
Weather models differ in their outlook with respect to the likelihood of a full-fledged cyclone emerging in the Arabian Sea.
Monsoon swansong India Met has sounded an alert for a depression in 24 hours, which takes the system in the Arabian Sea to within two rounds of being classified as one.
The would-be depression is expected to move north along the Karnataka-Konkan coast until Monday, and then move away into the open waters of the Arabian Sea towards Oman.
In all likelihood, the system could turn out to be the swansong for the South-West monsoon because towards its rear, easterly (opposing) winds are forecast to emerge into the Andaman Sea.
In a way, the system would provide the pivot around which the south-westerly wind regime would shift to being easterly-to-north-easterly across the southern peninsula.
Rain for south This is expected to happen from October 15, which is the median date for the onset of the North-East monsoon, or the monsoon in reverse, over Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
This is also why October-November is known to be most prone to the birth of tropical cyclones in the surrounding seas.
In fact, India Met projections indicate that just as the depression turns away from the West Coast, easterlies in the making conjuring up a circulation over Sri Lanka.
This could bring in heavy showers to Sri Lanka, and southern Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Kerala in what could be a pilot of the North-East monsoon.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.