Monsoon to hit Kerala in 2 days

South-west monsoon is expected to bring its first showers to Kerala over the next two days, the weather office said on Monday.

Pre-monsoon showers across Kerala had ebbed after a spell of heavy rains over the past couple of days. The weather office has retained its prediction of heavy (seven to 11 cm) to very heavy (12 to 20 cm) rainfall “at one or two places” till June 10. But on Monday, only two stations in the state – Vaikom in Kottayam district and Piravom in Ernakulam district – recorded heavy rainfall.

In Delhi, the India Meteorological Department announced on Monday evening that conditions “continue” to remain favourable for the onset of monsoon during the next 48 hours.

The IMD has a set of criteria that needs to be met before it declares the onset of monsoon. The first condition is that 60 % of the 14 pre-selected weather stations should record at least 2.5 mm rain for two consecutive days.

Besides, the daily average value of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) over the Arabian Sea should be less than 200 watt per square-meter and there should be a cross equatorial flow of westerly winds from the southern hemisphere.

As on Sunday, the OLR was 255 watt per square-meter and weather scientists were closely monitoring the weather conditions before declaring the onset of monsoon.
DH News Service

Ahmedabad braces for heatwave
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday issued a red alert for Tuesday as the mercury is expected to soar beyond 45 degrees celsius, DHNS reports from Ahmedabad. The alert follows another heatwave death in the city that has been witnessing severe heat conditions for over a  month-and-a-half. As many as 29 people in all have lost their lives in the prevailing heatwave.

The temperature on Monday stood at 44.5 degrees celcius, 3.8 degrees above normal. Similar situation is prevailing across Gujarat, with state capital Gandhinagar close behind Ahmedabad with a high temperature of 44.4 degrees celcius. Rajkot and Vadodara recorded 42.2 and 42.6 degrees celsius respectively. Compared to other parts of the state, temperatures in South Gujarat were relatively lower, with diamond city Surat recording the highest temperature of 33 degrees. AMC had declared an orange alert on Wednesday last as the temperature in the biggest city of Gujarat was set to touch 44 degrees celsius.