Delayed by Cyclone Amphan, monsoon advance picks up

This year, the monsoon will hit Kerala only around June 5, a delay of five days from normal.

After remaining stagnant for over 10 days, the Southwest Monsoon on Wednesday advanced into some more parts of south Bay of Bengal. The monsoon made an early arrival over the Andaman Sea and southeast Bay of Bengal this season due to favourable conditions that prevailed at the time of formation of Cyclone Amphan.

By Wednesday, the monsoon had covered most parts of Andaman Sea and Andaman and Nicobar islands. On the day, the Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) passed through Post Blair and some parts of south Bay of Bengal.

“With enhanced cloud cover, strengthening of south-westerly winds and the building up of other favourable conditions, further progress of the monsoon is likely over south and central Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours,” stated the latest forecast issued by the India Meteorological Department.

This year, the monsoon will hit Kerala only around June 5, a delay of five days from normal. In its revision of monsoon onset and withdrawal dates announced recently, the IMD had maintained June 1 to be the normal monsoon onset date over Kerala. This delay has been attributed to Super Cyclone Amphan, which hit West Bengal on May 20.

“Since the cyclone attracted all the energy, it weakened the progress of monsoon winds that were getting established over the Bay of Bengal,” said a senior IMD official from Pune.

This weakening meant that the monsoon stayed put along the Andaman Sea since its onset, realised around May 16.

Over the next two days, the conditions are becoming conducive for further progress of Southwest Monsoon over to southeast Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Andaman Sea, and more parts of south and central Bay of Bengal.