Monsoon to reach Kerala in next 48 hours, late by 10-15 days for NCR, predicts Skymet

Monsoon will reach Kerala in next 48 hours, while people in the national capital region (NCR) will have to wait for some more days for the monsoon rain, said private weather forecast agency Skymet here on Wednesday.

Talking to ANI, Samar Chaudhary, a senior Meteorologist at Skymet, said: "Monsoon is expected to reach Kerala within the next 48 hours. The normal dates of monsoon for Delhi and its adjoining regions fall in the last week of June. It may, however, be delayed by some 10-15 days."

"This year monsoon will be weak due to El Nino and global warming. We are hopeful that monsoon rains will take place around 93 per cent, which is even lower than the average," he said.

Chaudhary said: "This is the second driest year in the last 65 years. Normal rainfall for pre-monsoon is 131.5 mm whereas the recorded rainfall till now is 99 mm. This condition is due to prevailing El Nino over the areas which will affect the landfall of monsoon."

"The easterly winds carrying moisture have kept the rising temperature under check in north Indian states but the temperature will continue to rise again due to heat waves here," he said.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) defines average or normal rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 89 centimetres for the entire four-month season beginning June.