The southwest monsoon advanced in coastal, Malnad and northern parts of Karnataka on Thursday and is expected to bring rains across the state including in Bengaluru this weekend.
According to meteorologists at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the southwest monsoon entered Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Mysuru districts on June 14. This has now extended to the remaining areas of coastal and Malnad region in the state including Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts, and has also entered Belagavi district in the northern part of the state.
"The monsoon has advanced to remaining parts of coastal and Malnad region as well as Belagavi district. It is likely to be active for the next three days. There is a low pressure system that has developed north of Bay of Bengal which means there is a kind of pull from there which will bring cloudy weather across the state," explained Sunil Gavaskar, a meteorologist at the KSNDMC.
The monsoon is also expected to bring heavy showers to Bengaluru this weekend. "We have had one or two showers on Wednesday and the same is expected on Thursday. However, by June 21 or 22, we are expecting heavy rain in Bengaluru," said Sunil.
The monsoon, which usually covers Karnataka by June 10 is around ten days late this year. The Indian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, stated that the monsoon rains are set to extend to parts of Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Tamil Nadu. The department also reported that the overall deficit of monsoon rains so far this year is 41%. This is due to a delay in the arrival of the monsoon and the onset of Cyclone Vayu. The monsoon this year follows a summer with a lack of pre-monsoon rainfall. 156 out of 175 taluks in Karnataka were declared drought hit by the state government.