Skymet Meteorology Division in India had declared on the 28^th of May that Southwest Monsoon reached Kerala while, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had been waiting to make a call on it and finally declared the arrival of Southwest Monsoon on the 6^th of June.

Resolving debates about the onset of Monsoon 2014, Skymet Meteorology Division in India had confirmed its arrival, as most conditions stipulated for its onset over Kerala were largely met.

Commensurate with its characteristics, onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala resulted in good amounts of rainfall over most parts and fairly heavy in some pockets. As is expected, the rain belt advanced further to cover parts of Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Telangana.

Here’s a look at significant rainfall figures from the 30th of May, recorded by Skymet’s weather stations installed in Kerala-

• 30th May- Kulathoor in  Thiruvananthapuram recorded 39.36 mm and Karadka in Kasargode 5.84 mm.
• 31st May- In Kozhikode, Perambra 24.88 mm, Koduvally 21.09 mm and Nadapuram 15.76 mm of rain.
• 1st June- Chendamangalam in Ernakulam district recorded 27.69 mm and Perambra 22. 09 mm.
• 2nd June- Kallar in Kasargode 34.29 mm, Chalode in Kannur 35.56 mm, Palickathode 16.25 mm and Mundathicode in Thrissur 51.8 mm.
• 3rd June- In Kasargode, Pallikara and Paivelige recorded 71.89 mm and 39.37 mm, respectively. In Kollam, East Kallada recorded 25.15 mm and Kulathupuzha 25.9 mm of rain. Other stations located in Thiruvananthapuram also received good showers in the last 24 hours.
• 4th June- In Thiruvananthapuram district, Kulathoor recorded 12.5 mm and Venganoor 12 mm. While in Kozhikode district, Koduvally 27.2 mm and Bepore 12.5 mm recorded of rain. Taliparamba in Kannur recorded 18 mm of rain and Koorkkancherry in Thrissur district recorded 14 mm of rain.

By the 2^nd of June the rain belt reached parts of Telangana, Rayalaseema and Karnataka, where heavy showers were witnessed. In Andhra Pradesh, Anantpur recorded 55 mm of rain while Hyderabad and Kurnool both received 47 mm.  In Tamil Nadu,  Chennai received 22 mm, Karaikal 37 mm and Cuddalore 23 mm. Rain was widespread in Karnataka with  Bangalore recording 27.8 mm, Chitradurga 67.2 mm,  Belgaum 45mm and Gulbarga 2 mm.

The above mentioned rainfall figures in South India clearly indicates that the most important factor required for the onset of Monsoon, i.e. good amounts of rain, had been met. Temperature profile across South India also showed a dip, as is expected with the onset of Monsoon.

Requisite condition of the depth of westerly winds was somewhat lacking on the 28^th of May and situations remains the same till date. This could be attributed to an El Nino year, when the model structure of the Monsoon may get vitiated and small variations in the stipulated parameters for the arrival of Monsoon may be granted.

As said earlier by Skymet, Southwest Monsoon continues to bring rain in South India but the intensity has decreased in last 48 hours. Yesterday, rainfall also occurred at many places over Kerala and few places over Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and south interior Karnataka.

Rain will diminish during the next 24 hours before they pick up again due to the Monsoon system developing in the Arabian Sea. 

picture courtesy- Rupertt Wind