New Delhi, May 11: Pre-monsoon showers have lashed parts of the country and are expected to cover more regions next week, setting the stage for the four-month rainy season to commence on schedule on June 1, weather scientists said.
Skymet, a New Delhi-based private weather forecasting agency that had predicted a normal monsoon this year, expects rain-bearing monsoon clouds to reach the Andaman region in the Bay of Bengal by May 25, and hit Kerala thereafter.
“Between May 27 and June 4, the monsoon should hit the coast of Kerala. South India is in the thick of pre-monsoon showers and this will pick up in next three days — more widespread and intense,” said GP Sharma, vice president, meteorology, Skymet.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects monsoon rainfall to be 93% of average. It will issue its forecast for the onset of the monsoon on May 15. Last year, the monsoon rains reached the Kerala coast on June 6, while the previous year, it was on June 1. D Sivananda Pai, head of long-range forecasting at IMD, said the weather office stands by its forecast issued last month.
“Pre-monsoon showers in south and northeast India have begun. By May 15 we will announce the onset date. We stand by our earlier statement that monsoon rainfall is likely to be 93% of the long period average for June to September,” he said.
The Indian weather office treats June 1 as the normal date for the monsoon arrival over the southern coast based on a time series rainfall data of over 100 years. The pre-monsoon season for south India begins by March and in north India from April till the monsoon sets in.
From Monday, as per the weather office forecast, thunderstorms with squall will hit a few places over northeastern states, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Telangana and Karnataka.
