Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Kerala is experiencing a deluge of rainfall as the northeast monsoon takes hold in the region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued orange alerts for three specific districts and yellow alerts for the rest of the state.
An orange alert, signaling heavy to very heavy rainfall, has been issued for Idukki, Kozhikode, and Wayanad districts. In these areas, 12-20 cm of very heavy rainfall is expected within a 24-hour span.
On Saturday, Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts were also put under orange alerts, with expectations of continued rain. The trend is likely to persist, as Sunday has brought orange alerts for Pathanamthitta, Idukki, and Ernakulam districts. Notably, Kasaragod district reported heavy rainfall of 9 cm on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department has identified several weather systems contributing to Kerala's heavy rainfall. These include a trough of low pressure in the easterlies over the southwest and west-central Bay of Bengal, an embedded cyclonic circulation near Sri Lanka, and an upper air cyclonic circulation in the southwest Arabian Sea. These weather patterns are predicted to keep the rain pouring until November 7.
According to the IMD, Kerala can anticipate more rain in the upcoming days, with seasonal rainfall during the northeast monsoon currently standing at 1 percent above average as of November 3.
Kerala has been blessed with widespread rainfall since the onset of the northeast monsoon on October 21, providing much-needed relief. This comes after the southwest monsoon left a significant 34 percent rainfall deficit, which had adverse effects on irrigation, power generation, and the availability of drinking water. However, the situation has improved considerably since the advent of the northeast monsoon season.
