Southwest monsoon advances in Kerala, fishermen alert on

A day after its onset, the southwest monsoon advanced to more parts of Kerala and gained momentum in parts of coastal and south-interior Karnataka and interior Tamil Nadu, the India Meteorological Centre (IMD) said.

Parts of Kerala’s northern districts received heavy to very heavy rainfall on Wednesday, with Kannur, Taliparamba and Kudlu in Kasaragod recording the highest rainfall, at 12 cm each.

“Conditions are likely to be favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some parts of south Peninsula around 3rd June, with the likely development of favourable circulation features leading increase of rainfall over interior Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” the IMD said in a bulletin on Wednesday.

It said the monsoon could advance to parts of northeastern states during the next 48 hours and rainfall was likely to increase over parts of Maharashtra and Goa from June 6.

The Met Centre in Thiruvananthapuram has forecast heavy rainfall (7 cm to 11 cm) in one or two places in Kerala till Friday. The IMD has forecast squally weather and rough sea conditions off the north Kerala-Karnataka coast.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea along the Kerala-Karnataka coast, Lakshadweep area and the Comorin-Maldives area during the next 48 hours.