AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, May 20: The southwest monsoon is likely to reach Kerala in the next four to five days, much earlier than the usual date of June 1, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
The weather department had earlier forecast that the monsoon would onset over Kerala by May 27.
If the monsoon arrives in Kerala as expected, it will be the earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it began on May 23, according to IMD data.
"Conditions are likely to become favourable for monsoon onset over Kerala during next 4-5 days," the IMD said in an update on Tuesday afternoon.
Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.
The monsoon had set in over the southern state on May 30 last year; June 8 in 2023; May 29 in 2022; June 3 in 2021; June 1 in 2020; June 8 in 2019; and May 29 in 2018.
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