Monsoon rains over Kerala have not been very impressive this season so far. Even in the month of June, when the entire country observed good rain and the countrywide rainfall was surplus by 16%, Kerala observed a deficiency of 13%.
The performance of Monsoon in July was rather worse. According to the data available with Skymet, poor rains pushed up the rainfall deficiency in the state to a whopping 30%, which till date stands at the same level.
However some good rains have been observed in the state in a span of 24 hours from 8:30 am on Tuesday. For instance, Kottayam and Kozhikode recorded 65 mm and 30 mm of rain during this period. Alapphuza and Thiruvananthapuram also recorded 26 mm and 9 mm of rain, respectively.
These rains though good in intensity may not be of much help in bringing down the rainfall deficiency in the state.
A cyclonic circulation which is southwest of Kerala is responsible for giving rain in the region. Strong southwesterly winds are also inducing Monsoon clouds over the state. A trough is also seen in the lower levels over interior Kerala and adjoining Tamil Nadu.
We expect good rain to continue in the state for another 24 hours. Thereafter, the intensity will reduce as the cyclonic circulation will weaken while moving in a northward direction.
A strong Monsoon surge from the western arm of the Monsoon, which affects the West Coast has not been observed so far. Though, on and of good rain has been witnessed due to the off-shore Monsoon trough and sometime due to moderate Monsoon surge.
Therefore, there haven’t been frequent spells of heavy rain in the state, which is the characteristic of Kerala Monsoon.
Image Credit: The Hindu
