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The low-pressure area over North-West Bay of Bay of Bengal has intensified into being ‘well-marked,’ and India Met Department (IMD) update said this afternoon. The IMD has also set up a watch for its further intensification into a depression over the next two days, which would further strengthen the monsoon system.
High winds, rain
In view of this, the IMD has issued an alert for strong surface winds reaching up to 40 km/hr over Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura for today and tomorrow. Fishermen venturing out of the North Odisha and adjoining Bengal coasts have been advised to exercise caution.
Heavy rain alert is valid for the West Coast, including Kerala, Coastal Karnataka, Goa and Konkan, over the next two to three days. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts had predicted the formation of a monsoon depression in the Bay for weeks together now.
Heavy showers
The West Coast and adjoining interior have already started receiving heavy to very heavy rainfall in line with the intensification of the Bay ‘low.’ During the last 24 hours ending on Sunday morning, the following centres received heavy precipitation (in cm);
Shirali (27); Jalgaon, Mangaluru (Bajpe), Harnai and Honavar (14 each); Ratnagiri and Diu (10); Dhar, Adilabad and Vellanikara (Kerala) – 8 each; Ramagundam, Buldana, Vengurla, Karwar and Goa (7 each).
The monsoon is literally riding the back of the ‘low’ to expand coverage over the West Coast and North Peninsula over the next few days.
Monsoon progress
It will now enter more parts of Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, most parts of Rayalaseema and entire South Interior Karnataka. This afternooon, its northern limit passes through Srivardhan, Mahabaleshwar, Bijapur, Kurnool, Ongole and across the Bay of Bengal into the North-Eastern States.
Favourable conditions are developing for its further advance into some more parts of Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, some parts of Marathawada, Telangana, Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
To the east, the seasonal rains are expected to cover the remaining parts of Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and some parts of Bengal, Sikkim and Odisha over the next two to three days.
Troughs ‘live’
The offshore trough, a significant feature off the West Coast that indicates the strength of the monsoon, has come back to life today and lies extended from South Maharashtra coast to North Kerala coast.
The land-based trough over North India, another crucial enabling feature over land, linked North Rajasthan with East-Central Bay of Bengal cutting across South Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bengal before dipping into the centre of the ‘low’ in the Bay.
This trough allows easterly winds blowing in from the Bay to transport monsoon moisture in to be precipitated as rain over East and North-West India and parts of Central India.
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