The southwest monsoon is expected to hit Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of its normal onset date, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
The IMD said conditions were favourable for the onset of monsoon over the Andaman Sea and the southeast Bay of Bengal from May 23.
No El Nino
The agency had earlier indicated that the monsoon was likely to be normal and ruled out the possibility of El Nino, at least till August. El Nino — an abnormal warming of the sea surface in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific — is usually associated with a weak monsoon. Private forecaster Skymet, too, had said that there was zero chance of drought this year.
Earlier, it could only predict the arrival of the monsoon in the country and then give updates on its northward movement.
