Monsoon Onset Over Odisha Likely To Be Delayed, Heatwave To Prevail For Next 3 Days

Bhubaneswar: Odisha can expect little relief from sultry weather conditions in the days ahead with southwest monsoon unlikely to keep its date with the state, India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Tuesday.

Though the MeT office is yet to make a detailed forecast, the monsoon is likely to be delayed and may not hit Odisha coast by June 12. “Conditions are not favourable and the strong westerly wind is also affecting the advancement of monsoon. As a result, several parts of Odisha are experiencing heatwave conditions,” IMD’s senior scientist RK Jenamani told the media.

Heatwave conditions will continue to prevail in some districts of western Odisha till 8.30 am on May 11. The IMD has issued yellow warning for Bargarh, Sonepur, Balangir, Boudh, Sambalpur and Nuapada from 8.30 am on May 8.

Meanwhile, monsoon has advanced over some more parts of Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, southwest and Westcentral Bay of Bengal by Tuesday. The advance of the monsoon map showed that the seasonal rains would cover Odisha between June 11-16.

“From the forecast for the next five days, it appears that there is no probability of monsoon touching Odisha by June 12. We will again review the condition over the next 2-3 days and predict the onset date,” he added.

According to senior meteorologist Jason Nicholls, MJO, which is an eastward-moving pulse of clouds, precipitation, wind, and pressure in the tropics, will slow down the advance of monsoon over the next couple of days. “Weakening MJO moving into phase 1 should allow monsoon to reach Chennai and Mumbai later this week. A quicker monsoon advance is expected next week,” he tweeted.

Director of Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) at SOA University, Sarat Chandra Sahu echoed their views. “There is a possibility that south-west monsoon’s current will strengthen over the Arabian Sea by June 9 or 10. This is likely to help in the advancement of monsoon towards south Odisha by June 12 or 13,” he said.

Private weather forecaster Skymet said that southwest monsoon has been stagnant for the last six days and has remained just short of Konkan, reaching Karwar as of now.