THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Southwest Monsoon also called Edavapathi in local parlance has arrived over Kerala, exactly on the normal onset date of June 1, confirmed the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
There has been good pre-monsoon rainfall across the state over the past few days and other criteria required to announce the arrival of monsoon have been met, said the IMD.
The state has been experiencing heavy spells of rain owing to low pressure formed over the Arabian Sea. The low pressure is set to turn into a depression and then into a cyclone called Nisarga which is very likely to move northwards and reach the north Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts by June 3. The cyclonic disturbance over the Arabian Sea has made the conditions favourable for the arrival of the monsoon.
Earlier, the IMD announced that the monsoon would arrive in the state by June 5 with a model error of plus or minus four days. However, the weather agency revised its prediction after the formation of a cyclonic disturbance saying that the arrival of the monsoon would be advanced to June 1.
In 2019, the monsoon had hit Kerala on June 8, a week after the normal onset date. The weather models issued by the IMD also sounded a yellow alert in nine districts warning of heavy rains.