The India Meteorological Department said on Thursday that intense rainfall over Kerala, Karnataka and the ghat areas of Tamil Nadu was likely to reduce from Friday.

Forecast by the Thiruvananthapuram Met Centre for heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places till Friday and heavy rainfall till Saturday is in place. The Onam holidays for schools in the state have been rescheduled from August 17 to 29.

Strong winds were reported from Punalur and other parts of Kollam district late in the evening. Strong winds gusting up to 55 kmph have been forecast along and off the north Kerala coast. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services has issued a warning of high waves in the 3.5 m - 4 m range till Friday night along the Kerala coast between Vizhinjam and Kasaragod and along the coast of Karnataka, from Mangaluru to Karwar.

The southwest monsoon continued to be vigorous in Idukki and the northern districts. Peerumed in Idukki (35 cm), Ponnani in Malappuram (27 cm) and Vadakara in Kozhikode (26 cm) were among stations that recorded extremely heavy rainfall on Thursday.

Since the onset of the southwest monsoon, Kerala has received 37.49 % excess rainfall. Between June 1 and August 16, Idukki district – one of the worst-hit in the latest spell of torrential rains – recorded 83.59 % excess rainfall.