BENGALURU: The arrival of the most-awaited South West Monsoon has been delayed. Reason: The parameters that decide the onset have not met the required criteria.
Officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the wind pattern is not satisfactory and so is the outgoing long-wave radiation. The prolonged hot and dry spells and the break in pre-monsoon rain pattern have also affected the arrival of monsoon.
IMD-Bengaluru Director-in-charge, N Puviarasan said the westerly winds need to reach a height of 4 km, but at present, they are around 1.5 km. It is raining in Kerala, but it is the pre-monsoon showers, he added.
“Based on the long period average assessment, the ideal date of onset of monsoon is June 1. But this year, it was forecast that the monsoon would arrive on May 26-27. But it has been delayed now. In the wake of the present scenario, the conditions are not favourable for the onset of monsoon even on June 1,” he said.
Weathermen said as this is the El Nino year, the monsoon will be weak. The cross-equatorial winds are also not very strong for the monsoon to set in. Had the winds been strong, by this time the entire equatorial region and southern west coast would be experiencing rain. But the winds are weak now, they added.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the south-west monsoon has covered Andaman Nicobar Islands, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and surrounding areas. It is yet to hit the mainland. The forecast is that it will advance in the next two days. Its arrival on the mainland cannot be said at the moment.
However, pre-monsoon showers are gradually expanding over the entire country. A dip in maximum temperatures and rain over most parts of the country has been forecast from May 28-31 as part of the pre-monsoon showers.