The South-West monsoon made one of the most spectacular onsets that Kerala has witnessed in recent years, with most parts of the State receiving heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday.

It came two days ahead of the normal onset, and exactly as forecast by India Met Department (IMD) two weeks ago.

‘Active’ monsoon conditions are expected to last for three days more, the Thiruvananthapuram Met Office said.

The early arrival of monsoon, which is forecast to be near-normal for the four-month season, has brightened the prospects of the country’s farm sector.

Further advance On Tuesday morning, the IMD said that the monsoon had entered Kerala and advanced into some parts of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh in the North-East.

It had covered Maldives-Comorin entirely, entered more parts of South Arabian Sea, southern parts of Lakshadweep area, and more parts of the Bay of Bengal.

The IMD said conditions are favourable for further advance into South Arabian Sea, southern parts of Lakshadweep and Kerala, parts of Central Arabian Sea, Coastal and South Interior Karnataka, more parts of Tamil Nadu and the North-Eastern States.

The monsoon has been heavy over the North-East also. Heavy to very rain has been forecast for these States which had earlier in the day witnessed the fury of cyclone ‘Mora’ that barrelled into Bangladesh coast.

Cyclone-borne In fact, it was the severe cyclone that carried the monsoon into both Kerala and the North-East in much the same manner as predecessor ‘Maarutha’ heralded the seasonal rains into Andaman & Nicobar Islands almost two weeks ago. The strong to very strong monsoon flows in the Arabian Sea may, by the weekend, prove beyond the capacity of the Western Ghats to handle, likely making a progressively large band blow back into the sea.

This could briefly disrupt the heavy rain pattern along the west coast; but the flows would resume with even more strength from early next week as the Bay of Bengal likely tosses up another low-pressure area.

The Andhra Pradesh coast is expected to host the system. This would mean another punishing spell of rain for the entire peninsula, extending coverage to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Rain outlook The Met has warned of another spell of heavy to very heavy rain for Kerala on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall is expected to continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No significant change in weather is forecast for three days beginning Sunday.

Strong winds from a westerly direction with speed occasionally reaching 45-55 km/hr is likely along and off Kerala coast and over Lakshadweep area until Wednesday afternoon, the Met Office said.

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