Heavy pre-Monsoon rains in Sri Lanka

Moderate to heavy pre-Monsoon rain has been experienced in several parts of Sri Lanka. In 24 hours from 8:30 am on Sunday, Puttalam recorded 105 mm of rain, Mannar (21 mm), Jaffna (19 mm), Anuradhapura (19 mm) and Kurunegala (13 mm). Some coastal areas of the country have received heavy to very heavy rain.

There is an upper air cyclonic circulation over west central Bay of Bengal off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. It is due to this system that the southwesterly winds are gaining strength. We expect fairly widespread rain to continue over Sri Lanka. The intensity of rain will be more over western coast of the country. It is due to the same cyclonic circulation that the extreme southern tip of India has also received heavy showers. Thiruvananthapuram received 98 mmand 97 mm of rain on May 16 and May 17, respectively .

The intensity of rain will decrease over the region after 48 hours as the system over the Bay of Bengal will move away in a northeasterly direction. This will weaken the southwesterly surge over Sri Lanka as a result rainfall will decrease over the region. These showers are pre-Monsoon activity and very soon we could see the onset of Monsoon over the region.

Image credit: onlanka.com