Overview
- The India Meteorological Department declared the southwest monsoon over Kerala on Thursday, and issued orange and yellow warnings for heavy to very heavy rain across several districts and Lakshadweep.
- A strong western disturbance moving east across northern India has produced intense thunderstorms, sharp temperature drops and wind gusts up to about 65 km/h, prompting IMD alerts including a brief red warning for Delhi.
- IMD forecasts say the monsoon should advance into Goa, parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the next two to three days with more widespread rain expected in the northeast.
- Local impacts already reported include dramatic temperature plunges in Delhi, isolated waterlogging and uprooted trees in Kolkata that injured one person, and warnings that storms could disrupt traffic and damage crops.
- Seasonal context: meteorologists note a developing El Niño and an IMD outlook that projects near‑normal seasonal rainfall overall, which could make this monsoon’s timing and intensity more variable and track‑dependent.