Monsoon delayed: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said that there will be a slight delay in the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala. However, it added that for the next 7 days no heatwave conditions are expected.
The southwest monsoon normally sets in over Kerala on June 1, with a standard deviation of about 7 days. "This year, the southwest monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed. The monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on June 4 with a model error of 4 days," the Met office said in a statement.
Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD, Delhi said, "Heatwave conditions in the first half of May were less severe due to Western disturbances that affected parts of northwest India. As the next western disturbance is approaching northwest India, for the next 7 days, we are not expecting heatwave conditions there. But the temperature will be higher, up to 40°C."
"Dust-raising winds prevail over Haryana, South Haryana, Delhi NCR, Western Uttar Pradesh, and North-East Rajasthan. The main reason behind this is that a western disturbance has passed away and strong winds are prevailing. Apart from that, the temperature was quite high for the last week, mostly 40°C or above. The atmosphere is dry, and the soil has become loose because of the hot atmosphere. That's why winds blowing at 40–45 kmph are raising the dust from the surface and spreading it in the atmosphere, and mainly these are spreading up to a height of 1-2 km," Srivastava added.
