Low-Pressure System May Have Significant Impact on Monsoon Progress in Kerala: IMD

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has reported that a low-pressure area forming over the southeast Arabian Sea is expected to influence the monsoon advance towards the Kerala coast. Its formation and intensification is likely to seriously affect the southwest monsoon, though the IMD has not given a specific date for its arrival in Kerala. Private agency Skymet Weather has reported that the monsoon may arrive on June 8 or June 9 but it is expected to be a weak onset. The low-pressure area is anticipated to intensify into a depression and move in a near-northwards direction in the coming days. The powerful weather system is expected to disrupt the monsoon advance inland and limit the penetration beyond the Western Ghats. Farmers across India await the onset of the monsoon, which is crucial for the replenishing of reservoirs and drinking water supply, as well as power generation and agricultural production. The IMD has predicted normal rainfall, though northwest India is expected to receive normal to below-normal rain, while east and northeast, central, and south peninsula are expected to receive normal rainfall.