People gather at Vizhinjam harbour in Thiruvananthapuram. Southwest monsoon hit Kerala Friday, marking the start of the rainy season. (Source: Express photo by Vivek R Nair) People gather at Vizhinjam harbour in Thiruvananthapuram. Southwest monsoon hit Kerala Friday, marking the start of the rainy season. (Source: Express photo by Vivek R Nair)

The monsoon has finally arrived in Kerala, four days behind schedule, the Indian Meteorological Department announced on Friday after fairly widespread rainfall was reported from many parts of the state in the past 48 hours.

The normal date of onset of monsoon in Kerala, which signals the arrival of rain-bearing winds over the Indian mainland, is June 1.

The Met department said monsoon had already advanced further to cover the entire south Arabian Sea, some parts of central Arabian Sea, entire Lakshadweep and Kerala, and some parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Normally by this time, most parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also get covered by monsoon.

“Conditions are favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon into some parts of central Arabian Sea, Karnataka, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh, and some more parts of central and north Bay of Bengal and southern parts of the northeastern states during the next 48 hours,” the Met department said in a statement.

The department has forecast a below-normal monsoon this year, with the country as a whole expected to receive only 88 per cent of the normal rainfall during the four month rainy season between June and September.

However, during the first five days of this month, the country as a whole had received 12.7 mm of rainfall which was 8 per cent above normal.

The weather office said during the past two days, more than 70 per cent of the monitoring stations in Kerala had recorded rainfall higher than 2.5 mm or above.

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