Heavy to very heavy rains have lashed most parts of Kerala over the last two days. Last night's rains were much heavier than the previous day. These rains are likely to continue, albeit on a slightly milder note, for the next 24 hours Thereafter, the intensity is likely to retract and spread may also shrink, providing some relief from the incessant downpour.
Many locations received over 100mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours. The chief rainfall amounts are Kochi-120mm, Karipur Airport- 102mm, and Kozhikode-124mm. Kannur on the northern edge and Alapuzha on the southern side also received heavy rainfall of 80mm and 71mm respectively. Moderate rains are still continuing all along the coastline of the state.
The seasonal offshore trough is well marked from South Gujarat to Kerala, across Konkan, Goa and Coastal Karnataka. Also, the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal has now moved inland over parts of South Odisha and the neighbourhood. This has strengthened the wind stream all along the Western Ghats, spiking the rainfall activity. The low pressure over land is likely to become less marked and may get merged with the east-west shear zone over the central parts of the country.
The state of Kerala has remained a rain deficit this monsoon season. After the weak onset of the monsoon, the rainfall deficit had grown to 46% in June. Courtesy, some decent showers at the end of June and a few monsoon bursts in the first half of July, the shortfall was squeezed to about 31% by 12th July 2024. Fairly widespread and heavy rainfall over the past two days has reduced the margin further, to a little above 20%. Moderate showers expected over the next 48 hours may bring in within the normal range of +/- 19%.
Scattered and moderate to heavy rainfall is likely over the state in the next 48 hours. Heavy rainfall will recede thereafter, starting from the southern half and later clamping even the northern stations like Kudlu, Kasargod, Kannur, Thalassery, Wayanad and Kozhikode. A fresh weather system is likely to form over Bay of Bengal, which may once again trigger heavy rains, but not earlier than next week.
Image Credit: PTI
