South West Monsoon hits Kerala ahead of time! Skymet says all onset conditions met

Monsoon in India: After a string of bad news from Coronavirus pandemic, cyclone to locust attack, finally some really good news has arrived for India. The South West Monsoon has arrived on the Indian mainland! Skymet Weather announced the arrival of Monsoon 2020 from its Twitter handle. What is more, Monsoon actually hit the state of Kerala 'before the actual onset date'.

Skymet Weather announced the arrival of Monsoon 2020 today by tweeting, "#JUSTIN Southwest #Monsoon2020 finally arrived on the mainland of India, #Monsoon arrived on Kerala before the actual onset date. All the onset conditions including rainfall, OLR value, wind speed, etc are met. Finally, the 4-month long festival begins for Indian. #HappyMonsoon."

See Zee Business Live TV streaming below:

The period June to September is referred to as the 'Southwest Monsoon' period. It is the principal rainy season for the Indian subcontinent.  This is the summer monsoon period where the southwest monsoon holds sway over the country.  The whole country receives nearly 75 per cent of its rainfall during this period. 

See Skymet Weather tweet below:

#JUSTIN Southwest #Monsoon2020 finally arrived on the mainland of India, #Monsoon arrived on Kerala before the actual onset date. All the onset conditions including rainfall, OLR value, wind speed, etc are met. Finally, the 4-month long festival begins for Indian. #HappyMonsoon

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) May 30, 2020

Southwest monsoon sets in over the extreme southwestern tip of the peninsula by the end of May. The onset of Monsoon is characterized by a sudden spurt of rainfall activity.  It progresses inland in stages and covers the entire country by the middle of July.

It starts retreating from the extreme northwest by the beginning of September, progressively receding southwards.   Tamil Nadu is considered as a rain shadow region as it lies on the eastern side of western ghats. The total annual rainfall is maximum over the southernmost part of the state.