Even as the local Met office had on Saturday predicted monsoon in Odisha on June 8, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi on Sunday forecast a week-long delay in the onset of monsoon.
“Forecast suggests that monsoon onset over Kerala this year is likely to be slightly delayed. The southwest monsoon is likely to set over Kerala on June 7 instead of its scheduled date of June 1 with a model error of plus or minus four days,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said in its release.
“We are not in a state to say the specific date when the monsoon would hit Odisha coast. After it reaches Kerala coast, we can declare the actual date as to its occurrence in Odisha,” IMD (Bhubaneswar) director in-charge MamataYadav said.
“We are expecting that the second week of June may bring monsoon to the State,” she added.
Interestingly, forecast of monsoon onset issued during the past 11 years (from 2005 to 2015), except 2015, has proved to be correct. This includes the error margin of plus or minus 4 days.
“Currently there is a low pressure area in the south-west Bay of Bengal, which has already become well marked. It will become a depression and move towards Tamil Nadu coast by Sunday night. This will bring rainfall to Odisha beside in parts of south interior Karnataka and parts of Kerala,” Yadav added.
Skymet, a private forecasting agency, in its forecast for monsoon onset, had said that monsoon will hit Kerala between May 28 and 30.
The IMD has already made a forecast that monsoon will be “above normal” this year.