Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Monsoon may hit Kerala early

Monsoon may hit Kerala early
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NewsByte on 14 May, 2008 03:44:47
 
By OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, May 14: Monsoon is likely to hit Kerala four days ahead of its
scheduled date. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said with
strengthening and deepening of monsoon winds and widespread rainfall activity
being witnessed in the region, the much awaited Southwest monsoon has advanced
into southeast Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and north Andaman sea
two days back, almost eight days in advance.
Met official said that the onset forecast model has suggested that the monsoon
onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 29 with an error margin of four days.
The normal onset for monsoon over Kerala is June 1.
The Andaman archipelago has been receiving monsoon rains for the past few days
and the IMD had announced the annual seasonal rains had set in over the Andaman
Seas on May 10.
Meanwhile, the Capital witnessed high velocity winds blowing at a speed of up
to 94 kilometre per hour and rain shower in the morning due to a cyclonic
circulation, which brought down the temperature in the city. Met office said
that the city received 6.2 mm of rain. Weatherman attributed the showers to the
cyclonic circulation across northern region, which brought a cluster of clouds
over the city.
IMD has been using an indigenously developed statistical model for predicting
the 2008 monsoon onset over Kerala. This model is based on six predictors
including minimum temperature over North-west India, pre-monsoon rainfall peak
over South Peninsula and outgoing Long wave Radiation (OLR) over south China
Sea.
Since 2005, IMD has been issuing operational forecasts for monsoon onset over
Kerala using statistical techniques.
Over the past 11 years, monsoon has set in over Kerala in advance on four
occasions, the earliest being in 1999 when it received rains on May 22 against
the forecast for May 26.
Meanwhile, IMD has predicted that Burma, which was hit by devastating cyclone
Nargis on May 2, is likely to be hit by another tropical storm.
IMD, which is the Regional specialised Meteorological Centre of the World
Meteorological Office(WMO), has issued an advisory on the impending extreme
weather condition.