Thiruvananthapuram:
The eagerly awaited Southwest Monsoon is expected to set in over Kerala in a day or two even as most part of the state received widespread pre-monsoon showers, creating the mood of the arrival of the rainy season, known in local parlance as "Kalavarsham".
According to the forecast posted on the website of the Indian Meteorological Department, "Conditions are favourable for the onset of South West Monsoon over Kerala in the next 48
hours."
"We are expecting the monsoon to hit Kerala in a day or two. An official declaration by IMD could happen any time," a senior IMD official.
"Current meteorological analysis and interpretations of various Numerical Weather Prediction models indicate further increase of pressure gradient and strengthening and deepening of westerly and southwesterly winds over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea," the IMD forecast said.
The low-pressure area over the east-central Bay is likely to concentrate into a depression in the next 48 hours, it said.
Last year, the Southwest monsoon broke in over Kerala on May 28, three days ahead of the normal onset date of June 1.
Despite its early onset, the actual amount of rainfall in the initial phases of the monsoon was much below the expected levels, having adverse consequences on the farm sector and the hydropower generation in the state.