Southwest Monsoon this year apparently ushered in a little early around 28-29th of May as monsoonal rain was visible around this date. Monsoon made a sluggish start this year with subdued activity in the initial phase and made a very slow advancement. Nevertheless, rain seems to be picking up now. Kerala received good showers on Wednesday morning with some activity over Karnataka coast as well.
Here’ a look at the rainfall figures in South India in a span of 24 hours from 8.30 am on Tuesday.
Kerala- Alappuzha 57 mm, Punalur 35 mm, Kottayam 42 mm, Kozhikode 80 mm, Kannur 39 mm, Thiruvananthapuram 8.8 mm and Kochi 85 mm.
Other places on the west coast- Nashik received 11.6 mm of rain, Ratnagiri 7.7 mm, Yeotmal 20.2 mm, Mangalore 17.5 mm, Punalur 23.3 mm and Karwar 54 mm of rain.
Contribution of Cyclone Nanauk
As the Tropical cyclone ‘Nanauk’ in the Arabian Sea moves away, Monsoon rain is expected to increase over the west coast beginning with Kerala and gradually expanding to cover Saurashtra. According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the system is taking a northwestward direction and moving at a speed of 15 kmph. The storm is restricting the free flow of westerly winds, required for good Monsoon showers, and keeping all the moisture under its grip.
Therefore, rain will pick up over South India as the storm will lose its strength when it moves close to Oman or makes a landfall after about 3-4 days.
Monsoon rain over South India
The west coast of Peninsular India receives good showers during the Monsoon season. Mangalore receives an average of 1027 mm of rain in June while it has received only 130 mm till date. Similarly, Kozhikode receives an average of 750 mm but has only had 230 mm of rain. Rain is likely to pick up and just one good spell could mitigate the deficiency.
Mumbai is yet to receive Monsoon rain and has recorded only 2 mm of rain this month against the monthly average of over 500 mm.
The onset of Monsoon phase should normally witness significant rain and the actual outburst of Southwest Monsoon is yet to come. Since first June is the normal date for arrival of Southwest Monsoon, we will take into account the performance of Monsoon from this date.
Monsoon Performance from 1st to 10th June-
- National - The national cumulative average Monsoon rain was deficient by a whopping 43% until the 10th June.
- Kerala and Karnataka- Monsoon rain over Kerala was witnessed to be deficit by 40% while coastal Karnataka was deficit by 80%.
- Northeast India- Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were deficit by 25%. Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura have hardly received rain accounting for 80% deficit.
- Sub Himalayan West Bengal- This region has been witnessing good Monsoon showers and is surplus by 60%.
As of 11th June, the northern limit of monsoon (NLM) - as indicated by the green line in the featured image - passes through-
- Karwar in West Coast,
- Chennai in East Coast,
- And Coochbehar and Gangtok in Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim.
