“But monsoon can be officially declared after several criteria are met”
A sudden downpour in the city on Friday evening accompanied by winds (51 kmph) signalled the monsoon’s imminent progress into south interior Karnataka, according to the meteorological department.
The city recorded a modest 2 mm from the brief shower while Chitradurga recorded 3 mm and Mysore 1.7 mm. After a four-day hiatus following its onset over the coast on June 9, “conditions are favourable” for the monsoon to advance into the peninsula and south interior Karnataka, a bulletin from the Met department said.
While Karnataka’s coast has been all but inundated since June 9, there has been barely a hint of the rainy season in the rest of the State as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea disrupted the monsoon’s progress eastward.
Two low pressure systems that have developed in the Bay of Bengal are assisting the monsoon’s movement eastward into the peninsula, said B Puttanna, director of the Met centre. “Cyclone Nanauk has now moved over 1,000 km away from the Indian coast and has little influence over the monsoon.”
The monsoon cannot be “officially declared” in Bangalore and other stations until several criteria are met in the next 12 to 24 hours, he said. “The India Meteorological Department will only declare the monsoon over a district when they confirm that the rain was widespread, that most weather stations recorded at least 2.5 mm and that the wind direction is south-westerly.”
