KOCHI: Has the Southwest monsoon hit Kerala coast? Private weather forecaster Skymet Weather on Saturday afternoon announced the onset of monsoon over Kerala claiming that all parameters have been met.
However, meteorologists refuted the claim pointing out that the westerly winds have not gained strength and many stations have not received the 2.5 mm rainfall-another criteria for announcement of the monsoon onset. IMD authorities refused to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) secretary M Rajeevan took to Twitter to refute the claim. "The news about monsoon onset on social media is not correct. Monsoon has not arrived over Kerala. Follow @Indiametdept for authentic information," he wrote on Twitter.
Quoting Stephan Hawkings , Rajeevan tweeted, "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge." Weathercast India also said monsoon has not arrived. "Westerly wind depth criteria not met yet. Our nodal agency IMD has not made any announcement," it said.
"Skymet predicted that Monsoon 2020 will arrive on May 28 with a margin of +/- 2 days. Despite the delay caused by cyclone Amphan, Monsoon entered Kerala today, 2 days before the due date of June 1. All the parameters have satisfied the required threshold, essentially the Outgoing Long Wave Radiation (OLR) and rainfall. OLR values are received from INSAT and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (an American scientific agency) as well and rainfall amounts are verified from the available Automatic Weather Station," the report said.
However, experts pointed out that Skymet has a good network of weather stations and a sophisticated system to forecast weather. The private forecaster has 94 stations in Kerala. "The date of onset of monsoon has no relevance for a disaster management agency. The IMD’s extended range forecast has said we will receive good rain for the next couple of weeks. There is no need to disprove Skymet as they are competent and have acclaimed weather scientists who were formerly with the IMD," said KSDMA member secretary Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose.