#Meghdoot: The Monsoon Magic 2

For Delhi, the official date of arrival of monsoon is June 29. There has been intermittent rainfall for the past few days, but India Meteorological Department (IMD) says unless specific conditions are met, it cannot be termed as monsoon.

So, why does all rainfall not qualify as monsoon rainfall? To understand this, first let us understand what is monsoon?

IMD records tell us that the term ‘monsoon’ was first used by the Britishers more than a century ago for the then undivided India, to refer to the “large-scale seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea from southwesterly direction bringing heavy rainfall to the area.”

Word ‘monsoon’ has its origin in the Arabic word mausim (mausam in Hindi, meaning season) and the definition includes major wind systems that change direction seasonally and allows other regions of the world to qualify as monsoon regions.

How does IMD decided that monsoon has reached India? Kerala is the entry point for monsoon for mainland India. There are three main criterions: rainfall, wind and clouds.

For instance, for the first criterion, after May 10th, there has to be continuous rainfall for two days for more than 2.5 mm at any of the nine out of 14 identified places across Kerala.

This year IMD had earlier declared monsoon arrival on May 31 but by that evening, said it will be June 3. Rainfall over Kerala had decreased along with weakening of westerly winds, IMD had said. It touched Kerala on June 3 finally, two days late.

To be continued.....