Southwest monsoon to retreat, state likely to get heavy rains

With the southwest monsoon beginning to withdraw from Rajasthan on Monday against the normal date of Sept 17, the IMD said that there will be an increase in heavy rainfall activity this week. Thunderstorms with lightning, accompanied by winds with speeds reaching 30-40kmph, gusting to 50kmph, are very likely to occur at one or two places in Kerala.
It has issued a yellow alert for Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts on Tuesday.The meteorological department has said that under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over the central Bay of Bengal, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the west-central Bay and neighbourhood in the next 24 hours.
Squally weather with wind speeds reaching 35-45kmph, gusting to 55kmph, is likely to prevail along and off the Kerala coast. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the above sea areas.
Incois has issued an ocean current watch for Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram, and Thrissur on Tuesday.
Skymet Weather said there are two cyclonic circulations over the Bay of Bengal (BoB). One circulation is marked over the Northwest and adjoining west-central BoB. The other circulation is lying over the South Arakan Coast of Myanmar and neighbouring BoB. The latter is the remnant of tropical depression ‘Soulik' from the South China Sea, which, on the expected lines, is evolving over Northeast BoB.
Both these circulations are likely to merge, and under their combined influence, a low-pressure area is expected to form over the Northwest and adjoining west-central BoB within the next 24 hours. As it is the fag end of the monsoon in the month of Sept, this will not be a very strong weather system. However, it is likely to be a slow-moving low-pressure system after it crosses over land. Therefore, it is likely to spend a fair amount of time moving across the central parts of the country.