Monsoon to hit Kerala today, red alert in 4 districts

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram centre of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red alerts in four districts of Kerala with the monsoon all set to make its mark on the Indian peninsula on Saturday.

The red alert has been sounded on June 10 in Thrissur district and on June 11 in Ernakulam, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. All four districts on their respective dates will experience ‘isolated heavy to very heavy’ rainfall as part of monsoon showers.

The orange alert, entailing ‘isolated heavy to very heavy’ rainfall, has been issued in eight districts – Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode. These districts will experience rainfall between June 9 and June 11.

IMD's special weather bulletin has predicted squally weather with winds, speed reaching 35-45 kmph, likely to prevail over the southwest Arabian Sea off Somalia coast, Lakshadweep, Maldives area, southeast Arabian Sea and Gulf of Mannar.

Fishermen have been warned not to venture into Karnataka, Kerala coasts and Lakshadeep areas from June 7 onwards.

“A low-pressure area is very likely to form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea off Kerala-Karnataka coast around 9th June. It is likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify gradually. Conditions are likely to become favourable for the advance of southwest monsoon into some parts of Northeastern states during next 48 hours,” IMD said in a statement.

Although the monsoon is expected to hit Kerala within the next 24 hours, it would take at least seven days to reach the central and western regions of the country that are witnessing severe heat wave conditions now. 

Several people have reportedly died in the past few days in the country due to heat stroke as the maximum temperatures ranged between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius.