The southwest monsoon is likely to arrive over Kerala within the next 24 hours, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), marking the formal beginning of India's four-month rainy season. The development comes close to the monsoon's usual onset date around June 1 and is expected to trigger widespread rainfall activity across parts of southern India.
The weather agency has forecast isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall across Kerala over the coming week. Conditions are also considered favourable for the monsoon to advance further into parts of the Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, and several regions of the Bay of Bengal.
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Heavy rainfall warnings across Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Several districts in Kerala witnessed intense rainfall overnight. The IMD has issued an orange alert for Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam for the next few hours, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rain and wind speeds reaching up to 40 kmph.
Moderate rainfall and thunderstorms are also expected in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Thrissur districts.
IMD forecasts widespread rainfall as southwest monsoon nears onset. /ANI In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the weather department has forecast moderate rain, thunderstorms and lightning in Chennai and surrounding areas during the next 24 hours. Heavy rainfall is expected in districts including Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Vellore, Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai.
Kanyakumari district has been placed under a very heavy rainfall warning, with wet weather likely to continue over the next five days as monsoon conditions strengthen.
Delhi under yellow alert
The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Delhi, forecasting rain and thunderstorms on Thursday. The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 29.7 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 38 degrees Celsius.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms likely across southern states this week. /ANI Heatwave conditions ease in Telangana
The weather department has withdrawn all heatwave alerts across Telangana after temperatures began declining over the last few days.
Speaking to ANI, IMD Hyderabad Meteorologist GNRS Srinivas said, "From around the 20th of May, Telangana state has been experiencing very high temperatures, particularly in the North Telangana and East Telangana districts. We have seen heatwave conditions prevailing for longer periods of 6 to 8 days, both in North Telangana and East Telangana in many of the districts."
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He further said, "However, since the last two to three days, some synoptic situations have evolved, whereby temperatures have started to come down. Since the last two days, we have withdrawn the heatwave alerts over North Telangana and East Telangana also."
Kerala braces for monsoon arrival amid weather warnings and downpours. /ANI Thunderstorms and strong winds likely across India
According to the IMD, moderate to severe thunderstorm activity accompanied by squally winds reaching 40 to 50 kmph is likely over several parts of northwest, central, eastern and peninsular India during the week. The agency also expects isolated heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the next six to seven days as monsoon activity gathers pace.
