Thiruvananthapuram, June 20: Heavy rains continued to lash most parts of kerala as the south-west monsoon gained momentum since last week after a delayed and dull start resulting in an overall deficiency of 43 per cent so far. According to the met office sources here, the amount of rainfall received in the week ended on June 18 was nine per cent higher than the normal for the period, but deficient by 43 per cent considering the total rainfall received by the state from June 1.

The current spell was expected to continue for the next two days, as factors were conducive for widespread rains throughout Kerala, meteorological centre director M D Ramachandran said.

So far, the northern districts received higher amount of rainfall than the southern parts of the state, sources said.

Monsoon would normally have set in over Kerala on June 1, but was delayed by a week this year.
Bureau Report