E-Paper
Southwest monsoon makes onset over Kerala, says weather department
India Meteorological Department director-general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the weather conditions are perfect for the southwest moonsoon to make an onset in India.
The weather department on Thursday confirmed that the southwest monsoon arrived over Kerala.
In a tweet, the India Meterological Department said the monsoon set in over southern parts of Kerala.
READ MORE: Monsoon likely to hit India's southwest coast today: 5 points
After two years of above-average rainfall, the IMD, in its second long-range forecast, has predicted normal monsoon rainfall at 101% of the long-period average (LPA) this year. The LPA is the average rainfall (88cm) recorded in India every year between June and September from 1961 to 2010.
In 2020 and 2019, the monsoon was above normal at 110% and 109% of LPA. In 1996, 1997, and 1998, the monsoon was normal at 103.4%, 102.2%, and 104%, respectively, according to IMD.
The arrival of monsoon, crucial to the country’s farm-dependent economy, is announced based on factors such as wind speed, consistency of rainfall, intensity, and cloud cover.
India receives about 70% of its annual rain during the four-month monsoon that is crucial for rice, soybean, and cotton cultivation. Good rainfall has been a prime reason for the farm sector’s resilience for two years, and its ability last year to buck the Covid-19 pandemic.
