Near normal rainfall in first month of monsoon

Kochi: After an early onset in Kerala, one week ahead of its normal date, the southwest monsoon covered the entire country on Sunday, well ahead of July 8. Kerala completed its first month of the season with near-normal rainfall of 617.4mm.

All districts, except Wayanad, received normal rainfall. Wayanad is 33% deficient, receiving only 451mm against the normal of 671mm. Idukki is short by 14%, with 607mm of actual rainfall against the normal of 706mm. Deficiency of up to 15% is considered normal. There is a 16-18% excess rainfall recorded in Palakkad, Pathanamthitta and Kannur. The first week of the monsoon, which arrived on May 24, saw a six-fold increase in rainfall of 40cm in one week.

The IMD issued a heavy rainfall warning for Kerala on July 3-4. Yellow alert has been issued for Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod on July 3.

Squally wind speeds reaching 45-55kmph, gusting to 65 kmph, are likely to prevail over most parts of the west-central Arabian Sea and northern parts of the southwest Arabian Sea.

The IMD stated that under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation over southwest Bangladesh and Gangetic West Bengal, a low-pressure area formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal. The associated cyclonic circulation is likely to move slowly west-northwestwards across north Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, and Jharkhand during the next two days. While the low-pressure area over Kutch became less marked, the associated cyclonic circulation now lies over south Rajasthan. These systems are influencing the rainfall activity in the state.