Weathermen are keeping their fingers crossed hoping for the timely onset of the southwest monsoon on the Kerala coast. The weathermen are anxious because the monsoon current developed over the Bay of Bengal 10 days ago but has not moved up so far.
The Indian Meteorological Department last month had predicted the monsoon's entry into the Indian mainland on June 5, via the Kerala coast. The forecast had an error margin of four days on either side, which means monsoon is due to arrive anytime between June 1 and June 9.
“Monsoon has not come on Sunday and it is not expected to arrive on Monday. We will get better data in the next 24-48 hours to know its future course,” a senior IMD scientist told Deccan Herald. Boosted by a surge of clouds, the Bay of Bengal arm of the monsoon came alive on May 21, a little earlier than the scheduled date. It crossed the Andaman and Nicobar islands but has been stuck in the same position for the last 10 days, disrupting the weathermen's hope of an early onset.
The Met Department in its Sunday evening forecast said conditions were becoming favourable for the further advance of southwest monsoon into some parts of the southeast Arabian Sea, Maldives-Comorin area and some parts of southwest Bay of Bengal in the next 2-3 days.
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