Gusty southwesterly winds heralded roaring monsoon rains to Thiruvananthapuram city under an overcast sky this morning.
The setting had been readied overnight with a helpful offshore trough, the receptacle of moisture mopped up by winds from the Arabian Sea, springing back to life along the west coast.
BRIMS OVER
The moisture thus collected brims over, and gets spilled as rain along the coast. It is also carried further inland by the seasonal westerly to southwesterly winds.
According to an India Meteorological Department update, pulsating spells of rains may lash the west coast for the next two days.
Interior peninsula too may share the spoils, with satellite pictures showing west and east coasts awash with moisture this morning.
Telangana, coastal Andhra Pradesh and south Chhattisgarh also would benefit from the rains thanks to proximity to a cyclonic circulation in the adjoining Bay of Bengal.
CYCLONIC CIRCULATIONS
On the other hand, a counterpart circulation off the Gujarat coast would help drive rain as far inland as into south Madhya Pradesh.
A reasonably powerful system in the Bay of Bengal would have facilitated interaction with this circulation over northeast Arabian Sea to push itself into northwest India.
But this would require the formation of a well-endowed low-pressure area, but there is no forecast of such an eventuality any time soon.
Given this context, it remains to be seen how long the rains would be able to sustain on their own dynamics.
Taken from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com