Monsoon set for revival as Bay wakes up

The South-West monsoon is set for a revival of sorts after an intervening ‘break' phase, with an upper air cyclonic circulation springing up over north-west Bay of Bengal on Monday.

The circulation has helped the eastern end of the all-important land-based monsoon trough across northwest-to-southeast India to revert back to its normal position.

NORTHERN END

The northern end is expected to follow suit within the next two days bringing the rain cover to extend over west-central India and the rest of northwest India, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update said on Monday.

This sets the stage for the revival of rain activity, with Kalpana-1 satellite pictures revealing the presence of convective(rain-bearing) clouds over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, the North-Eastern States, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea and east-central and south-east Arabian Sea.

OFFSHORE TROUGH

A conventional offshore trough has fallen into place along the west coast from Maharashtra coast to Kerala coast.

This is just as well, since monsoon easterlies would need a system to interact with and bring needed rains into the region including West Rajasthan and north Gujarat where rains have been either deficient or scanty until now.

A short-term forecast by IMD valid until Thursday said that fairly widespread rain or thundershowers would occur over western Himalayan region, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Lakshadweep, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and along the west coast.

WEATHER WARNING

Scattered rain or thundershowers would occur over remaining parts of the country outside Rajasthan and Gujarat.

An extended forecast valid until Saturday spoke about the possibility of further increase in rainfall activity over central and northwest India.

But in a weather warning for the next two days, the IMD said that there are two remnant rain-driving circulations from the heavy session still hanging over the region over northwest Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and adjoining Bihar respectively.

SOUTHWEST COAST

Isolated heavy rainfall would also occur over coastal Karnataka, Kerala and the North-Eastern States during this period as the revival of monsoon reverberates along the southwest coast as also in the northeast.

Meanwhile during the day yesterday (Sunday), fairly widespread rainfall was reported from Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, north interior Karnataka and the Northeastern States