Yellow alert issued for Kerala districts as state braces for early monsoon onset
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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is likely to witness an early onset of the Southwest Monsoon as the weather system has advanced further over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, resulting in widespread rainfall activity across the state, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD said that conditions remain favourable for the monsoon to progress into more parts of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal over the next three to four days. Yellow alerts have also been issued for several districts in Kerala until May 27, The New Indian Express reported.
MET director Neetha K Gopal reportedly said the coming three to four days would be crucial for determining the monsoon onset over the state. She noted that weather conditions were developing largely in line with expectations for the arrival of the monsoon and indicated that an official announcement was likely soon. According to her, the present assessment suggested that conditions remained favourable for the monsoon’s arrival.
She further stated that Kerala was expected to continue receiving rainfall over the next few days, with some districts likely to experience rainfall at yellow-alert intensity. She added that there were currently no major additional weather systems affecting the region and observed that wind strength ahead of the monsoon onset appeared weaker compared to the previous year. Because of this, only moderate rainfall activity was being anticipated at present.
Neetha K Gopal also pointed out that weather conditions could evolve further after the official onset of the monsoon, as rainfall intensity and weather patterns often change during the initial phase of the season.
Despite near-normal pre-monsoon rainfall in May, she said the broader monsoon outlook for Kerala continued to remain below normal. According to her, rainfall during May had been reasonably good and close to average levels, but both the overall monsoon season and rainfall during June were still expected to remain below normal. She nevertheless cautioned that even with lower seasonal rainfall, isolated heavy rainfall events could still occur and preparedness remained necessary.
The IMD has issued yellow alerts for multiple districts over the coming days. On Sunday, alerts are in place for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Idukki districts. On Monday, alerts extend to Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad. On Tuesday, yellow alerts have been issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts, while on Wednesday the alerts cover Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.