Monsoon delayed, remains stalled in current position; here’s when it’s expected to arrive in Kerala now

Monsoon in India: The onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala that was expected to arrive in the state on June 1 has now been delayed by a few days. The southwest monsoon remained stalled in its current position. 

As mentioned in a report in Informist, Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of the Department of Meteorology and Climate Change at weather agency Skymet said that the southwest monsoon is now expected to arrive in Kerala on Thursday or Friday. The arrival of the rains in Kerala is of importance because the state is the first point of the advancement of the monsoons.

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Palawat said that there is a cyclonic circulation over the Arabian Sea and another one over the Bay of Bengal, which are not favourable for onset conditions. The movement of the westerlies is also not favouring the onset of the monsoon over Kerala, he said. 

As per the report, Palawat said that for monsoon onset certain conditions need to be met, like 60 per cent of the stations in Kerala, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep must receive 2.5 mm of rainfall, meaning they should get rainfall for two consecutive rains, which has not happened. 
 
An official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that since the monsoon trough is stalled, it is considered delayed. IMD is likely to give a revised tentative date of the monsoon onset.  

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As per the weather department, the monsoon trough remained in the same position on Sunday as it was on Saturday. In the next three-four days, conditions are favourable for its onset over other parts of the Arabian Sea, most parts of the Bay of Bengal, and some parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. 

Palawat also added that the delay in the monsoon has nothing to do with the upcoming El Nino event. The monsoon is dependent only on the weather systems near and over India.