SW Monsoon expected to enter Maharashtra in 2-3 days: IMD

The department has declared the onset of monsoon over Kerala on May 24—eight days ahead of its normal date of June 1

- Gayatri Vajpeyee

PUNE: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday forecast an expected early entry of monsoon into Maharashtra, likely in the next two to three days, nearly 10 days ahead of the usual June 7 onset. The department has declared the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala on May 24—eight days ahead of its normal date of June 1.

According to the weather department, a depression over the east-central Arabian Sea adjoining the south Konkan coast began crossing between Ratnagiri and Dapoli on Friday. The system, combined with moisture incursion from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, is expected to bring widespread rain across Maharashtra over the next two days. The IMD has issued heavy to isolated intense rainfall alerts for parts of Konkan and southern and central Maharashtra over the next 48 hours.

As per the IMD forecast, conditions are favorable for further advancement of the southwest monsoon into more areas of the central Arabian Sea, Goa, parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, additional parts of Karnataka, and remaining parts of Tamil Nadu over the next 2-3 days.

With this, Maharashtra is likely to witness a record-breaking early onset of monsoon. When asked about the historical data on onset dates, an IMD official said, "We are compiling comparative data on past monsoon onset dates in Maharashtra and will share the details soon."