 "Monsoon onset delayed by 1-2 days, may come by June 3")
Earlier, it was expected to reach Kerala coast on May 30. A delay in the arrival of monsoon also means that the current intense heat-wave across the country might be prolonged for a few more days. It could have an impact on the sowing of kharif crops, if the delay is longer than anticipated.
"The monsoon is almost there and it has arrived in the Arabian Sea, but it taking some time to reach the coast in full strength. But as is the case with monsoon, things can change in 24 hours, so we can say that monsoon has arrived over the sea, but it is taking some time to gather the requisite strength to reach the coastline," D S Pai, director of Long Range Forecast in The India Meteorological Department (IMD) told Business Standard.
He said as is the case with monsoon, a slight deviation in the onset date does not have any impact
The IMD had earlier predicted that southwest monsoon could arrive over the Kerala coast on May 30. The forecast was with a model error of plus and minus 4 days. Private weather forecasting agency, Skymet too had forecast that monsoon would arrive around the same time. Later, though, it had said that the onset might not be as strong as predicted.
"Yes, there has been a delay in the onset of southwest monsoon and the rains are now expected to arrive around June 3," says GP Sharma, vice president of meteorology at Skymet Weather Services.
Though the actual monsoon onset may be still some time away, rain or thundershowers is expected to occur at many places over Kerala, Lakshadweep and at a few places over coastal and south interior Karnataka today. Isolated rain or thundershowers may also occur over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and north interior Karnataka.
Meanwhile, the nationwide death toll in the intense heat-wave has risen to 2,005 with Palamau in Jharkhand recording the highest temperature of 47 degrees Celsius.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which bore the brunt of the scorching sun, together accounted for 1,979 deaths. The two states saw the death of 205 people since yesterday - 156 in Andhra Pradesh and 49 in Telangana.
The maximums in Rajkot, Baroda and Bhuj were also settling 2 to 3 degrees above normal, which indicates that though the temperature here was a little comfortable compared to other parts of the country, it was still very hot.
The state-run IMD had forecast that rains would be below normal in 2015 at 93 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA), while private weather forecasting agency Skymet had said that it would normal at 102 per cent of the LPA. The met office will update its forecast in the middle of June.
MONSOON MIRAGE
- Monsoon onset not to be today, might come before June 3
- IMD had predicted the rains to arrive by May 30, 2015
- The forecast was with a model error of plus and minus 4 days
- Heat-wave to continue for few more days