Monsoon slows down over south and west though northwest can expect some rain activity around June 11, June 15-16, say meteorologists

Vibha Sharma

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New Delhi, June 8

The progress of the southwest monsoon has been slow since its arrival on the Kerala coast.

A weakened current over the Arabian Sea has hindered its advance through the mainland by almost six to seven days, leading to a deficit of around 38 per cent for the season.

The arrival over Goa has been delayed due to an anti-cyclone circulation in the mid-troposphere over Maharashtra and weak monsoon currents, say meteorologists. They are expecting the current to gain steam around the weekend.

The monsoon had reached Kerala on May 29 and Karwar on May 31.

Though it is a long way to the northwest, reeling under dry and sizzling heat, the meteorologists are expecting some respite in the region over the coming days.

Skymet Weather’s Mahesh Palawat says the northwest can expect “some rain activity” around June 11 and “substantial rains” around June 15-16.

The monsoon current over the eastern side has been better than the Arabian Sea arm, which caters to the westen parts, says Palawat.

Due to the weakening of the Arabian Sea arm, meteorologists are not seeing typical features over western India.

The presence of an anti-cyclone over central parts is also not a good sign for monsoon advancement.

However, the slow progress is not a “break in monsoon”, weather experts insist. The IMD says seasonal rains have reached some parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, southwest and west-central Bay of Bengal.

Intense spell of rain is likely to continue over the northeast and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the next five days.

Heatwave conditions are likely to continue in isolated pockets over the northwest, central and adjoining eastern India during the next three days.