The onset of southwest monsoon in Odisha is to be delayed by three days. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon, which was scheduled to hit the Kerala coast on Saturday, would be delayed by three days as the wind speed across Arabian Sea has become very slow. The Met Department which had earlier predicted that Odisha would witness pre-monsoon shower between June 2 and 4, now says it would be delayed by three to four days while the onset of monsoon in the State would be around June 14.
Giving reasons for the delay, a senior official of the Skymet said the monsoon had hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands three days before schedule on May 16. It later advanced and hit the Sri lanka coast five days later on May 21. However, the monsoon since then has been moving at a very low speed due to the blowing of wind in the north-westerly direction instead of southwest direction from the Arabian Sea across the Kerala coast. Keeping the prevailing condition in view, it is expected that the monsoon would hit the Kerala coast in the next three days by June 4, he said.