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India Meteorological Department confirms late arrival of rains

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is June 1, which also marks the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season.

New Delhi, May 15: The monsoon is likely to be delayed this year as its arrival is expected on June 6, five days after its normal onset date, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, private forecaster Skymet had said that the monsoon would hit the Kerala coast on June 4, with an error margin of two days.

“This year, the statistical model forecast suggests that the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed," the IMD said. "The southwest monsoon onset is likely to set over Kerala on 6th June with a model error of plus or minus 4 days."

"Conditions are becoming favourable for advance of southwest monsoon over the southern part of Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during May 18-19," it said.

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is June 1, which also marks the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season.

If the monsoon arrives late, it will be the third such instance since 2014 when it arrived on June 5, followed by June 6 in 2015 and June 8 in 2016.

The delay in the arrival of monsoon may not necessarily have an impact on the overall rainfall. Last year, it had hit Kerala on May 29, three days before the normal onset date. Yet, the country received 'below-normal' rainfall.

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