Monsoon has arrived in Kerala, 3 days ahead of schedule: IMD

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said today the southwest monsoon has set over Kerala, three days ahead of the normal date.

According to the Met Department, the rains were set to arrive on June 1.

Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency and a rival of the IMD, had said that the monsoon made its arrival in Kerala on Monday.

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According to the IMD, if after May 10, 60 per cent of the available 14 stations - Minicoy, Amini, Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kollam, Allapuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kudulu and Mangalore - report 2.5 mm or more rainfall for two consecutive days, the onset of monsoon over Kerala can be declared on the second day. This is one of the main parameters for declaring the arrival of monsoon.

All the necessary parameters were met following which the onset of monsoon over Kerala was announced, Mritunjay Mohapatra, Additional Director General, IMD said.

The IMD had predicted that India will experience third successful monsoon this year, even though some foreign forecasters have said uneven rain could affect crop production in the country.

The monsoon is considered normal if the average rainfall is between 96 to 104 per cent of long period average.

Anything less than 90 per cent of LPA is termed a "deficient' monsoon", and 90-96 per cent of the same is considered "below normal".