In the past 16 years, the monsoon has arrived earlier, crossing Kerala in just one day.
The monsoon arrived in Kerala earlier than usual, sweeping across in a single day.The India Meteorological Department confirmed that the southwest monsoon has arrived in Kerala. This is the earliest arrival of the monsoon in 16 years, with the previous early arrival being in 2009, when it reached on May 23. This time, the monsoon arrived eight days earlier than normal in Kerala.
The rainy season is expected to last for the next four months. Kerala is where the monsoon first arrives and where it withdraws last in India. In a single day, the monsoon has fully spread across Kerala and reached near Goa.This time, the monsoon covered the entire state of Kerala in just one day. This was indicated in the recent posts by Metbeat Weather. Typically, the monsoon spreads gradually from southern to northern Kerala over a span of 2-3 days. However, on May 24, the day when the monsoon was announced, it had completely spread to coastal Karnataka and reached near Goa.
In 2023, it arrived 8 days late, but now it has arrived 8 days early. Last year, the monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 30. However, in 2023, the monsoon arrived 8 days later than usual on June 8. This time, it has arrived 8 days earlier than usual. See the table below for the dates when the monsoon has arrived in Kerala since 2009.
The private weather monitoring agency Metbeat Weather had predicted that the monsoon would arrive in Kerala by May 25. In the initial phase of the monsoon forecast, the Indian Meteorological Department predicted that the monsoon would reach Kerala on May 27. Later, the weather department updated its prediction, stating that the monsoon would arrive on May 25. Just a day before that, the weather department confirmed this arrival at noon today.
Heavy rains, which are part of the monsoon, have been observed in Kerala for two days since the arrival of the rains. However, specific criteria must be met for an official confirmation of the monsoon’s arrival. In past years, the weather department has often taken many days to fulfill these criteria. However, this time the confirmation has arrived suddenly. The weather department will confirm the arrival of the monsoon only once the criteria are fully satisfied. Let’s take a look at what these criteria are.
1) Rain Measurement
After May 10, if 2.5 mm of rain or more is recorded in 60% of the places in the 14 listed stations (Minicoy, Amini, Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kudlu, Mangalore) over two consecutive days, it will be declared that the monsoon has commenced in Kerala on the second day, in accordance with the other criteria mentioned below.
2) Wind
Between the equator and 10° North latitude, and in the region from 55° to 80° East longitude, the presence of westerly winds at an altitude up to 600 hPa (4.2 km). In the region between 10° North latitude and 10° North latitude, and 70° to 80° East longitude, the wind speed should be between 15 to 20 kts (27.8 to 37 km/hr) at altitudes up to 925 hPa (750 m) (as per satellite data).
3) Outgoing Long Wave Radiation (OLR)
The OLR value recorded by the INSAT satellite should be below 200 wm2 in the range of 5° to 10° North latitude and 70° to 75° East longitude.
