Southwest monsoon advances across multiple states; red alert in 5 Kerala districts
Heavy rain expected in Western Ghats region of Tamil Nadu as conditions become favourable for further advancement of southwest monsoon
Southwest monsoon continues to make rapid progress across the country after entering Kerala on Thursday (June 4), bringing widespread rainfall to southern India and advancing further into the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and several states.
Heavy rains have lashed various parts of Kerala since Thursday , disrupting normal life. The overnight rains that continued on Saturday (June 6) morning flooded roads, uprooted trees and damaged houses.
Also read: Southwest Monsoon reaches Kerala after a three-day delay; IMD issues rain alerts
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in five districts: Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.
Red alert
In view of the red alert, entry to tourist trekking spots, night travel on hilly roads and quarrying activities have been prohibited in Wayanad, Kozhikode, and Kasaragod districts.
A red alert indicates an extremely heavy rainfall of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.
The department also issued an orange alert in six districts—Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur and Palakkad—and a yellow alert in the remaining three districts of the state.
Heavy rainfall expected
Due to a cyclonic circulation located over north Kerala, extremely heavy rainfall was likely in parts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Malappuram districts, IMD said.
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Besides that, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in parts of Kerala and Mahe from June 6 to 9. Additionally, widespread rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds of 40 to 50 kmph is likely in Kerala from June 6 to 10.
The weather department also cautioned fishermen against venturing into the Kerala-Lakshadweep-Karnataka coasts from June 6 to 9 as strong winds of 40 to 60 kmph are expected in the region.
Southwest monsoon advances
The IMD said the southwest monsoon has reached most parts of the central-western and central-eastern Arabian Sea as well as parts of Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
It has also advanced further into some more parts of the west-central and northeast Bay of Bengal, the entire east-central Bay of Bengal, and parts of Mizoram and Manipur.
Weather update in Tamil Nadu
Heavy rains are expected in the Western Ghats region of Tamil Nadu as conditions have become favourable for the further advancement of the southwest monsoon, reports said citing weather office sources.
Accordingly, heavy to very heavy rain with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph is likely at isolated places over the Nilgiris, Theni, Dindigul districts and the ghat areas of Coimbatore district.
The latest weather forecast from the Regional Meteorological Centre on Saturday said that heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms is also likely over Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruppur, Madurai, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari districts, besides the ghat areas of Tenkasi and Tirunelveli districts.
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The report further said that high maximum temperatures combined with high humidity are likely to cause uncomfortable weather over the north coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.
Chennai recorded the highest maximum temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius on Friday. Nalumukku in Tirunelveli district received the highest rainfall of 17 cm during the last 24 hours, followed by Mylar in Kanyakumari district, which recorded 9 cm during the same period.
SW monsoon in north
Meanwhile, the Met Department has said the southwest monsoon is likely to reach Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) between June 25 and June 30. According to the IMD, the rains are expected to reach Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad during this period, and are also likely to advance into parts of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh around the same time.
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While temperatures have eased for now, focus has shifted to the monsoon's progress after weeks of scorching conditions.
(With agency inputs)