Southwest monsoon arrives in Nicobar Islands: IMD

New Delhi, May 19: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced today that the southwest monsoon has arrived over the Nicobar Islands.

"On Sunday, the southwest monsoon advanced into parts of the Maldives, the Comorin area, some parts of the South Bay of Bengal, the Nicobar Islands, and the South Andaman Sea," the IMD stated on ‘X’.

The IMD reported an increase in the strength of the westerly winds in the lower tropospheric levels (up to 3 km), reaching approximately 20 knots, with southwesterly winds prevailing up to 4.5 km above sea level in the region.

With increased cloudiness, the Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) over the area is now less than 200 watts per square meter. The weather office also noted widespread rainfall over the Nicobar Islands in the past 24 hours.

The IMD had previously predicted that the monsoon would reach Kerala by May 31.