Monsoon onset in Odisha to be delayed by three days

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 31:

The onset of southwest monsoon in Odisha to be delayed by three days.

In a release on Saturday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the southwest monsoon which was scheduled to hit Kerala coast on May 30 would be delayed by three days as the wind speed across Arabian sea has been has become very slow.

The Met department which had ealier predicted that Odisha will witness pre-monsoon shower between June 2 and 4, now says that it would be delayed by 3-4 days while the onset of monsoon in the state will be around June 14.

Giving reasons for the delay in the onset of monsoon, a senior official of the Skymet said the southwest monsoon had hit Andaman and Nicobar islands three days before schedule on May 16. The monsoon later advanced and hit Sri Lanka coast five days later on May 21.

“However, the monsoon since then has been moving at a very low speed due to blowing of wind in the north-westerly direction instead of southwest direction from Arabian sea across the Kerala coast. Keeping the prevailing condition in view, it is expected that the monsoon would hit Kerala coast in the next three days by June 4”, he said.