THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The south-west monsoon arrived in Kerala on Tuesday, three days ahead of its normal date of arrival. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in various parts of the state.The monsoon will progress further north in the coming days covering the entire state and parts of Karnataka, the IMD said. “Conditions are favourable for further advance of south-west monsoon into some parts of the central Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Kerala, some parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka, more areas in east-central and north-east Bay of Bengal, and some parts of north-eastern states during the next 48 hours,” the IMD said.
Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places till Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, coastal areas of the state, particularly in Thiruvananthapuram, continued to be battered by rough seas. “This year, IMD has predicted a normal monsoon. Since no two monsoons are alike, there is no comparison between any two monsoon seasons,” said K Santhosh, director, IMD.