The wait for the Monsoon in India ended with southwest monsoon making landfall in Kerala on Saturday, May 24. This marked its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala is eight days earlier than its normal onset date of June 1. The IMD had earlier predicted the early arrival of the monsoon on May 27.
Notably, the advance of the southwest monsoon over the Indian subcontinent is marked by its onset over Kerala. If we look at the data of past five years, there were two occasions when monsoon had begun early – 2022 and 2024. In 2022 and 2024, the monsoon onset was May 29 and May 30 respectively, as per the IMD data.
Advances Rapidly Across South India
The Southwest Monsoon has now further advanced into the remaining parts of the south Arabian Sea, some parts of the west-central and east-central Arabian Sea, the entire Lakshadweep area, and Kerala. Southern states received heavy rainfall yesterday with red alert being issued for coastal areas.
The Monsoon also advanced into Maharashtra, some parts of Karnataka, the remaining parts of the Maldives and the Comorin area, many parts of Tamil Nadu, the remaining parts of the southwest and east-central Bay of Bengal, some parts of the west-central and north Bay of Bengal, and some parts of Mizoram on Saturday.
Furthermore, the IMD noted that conditions are favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, some more parts of Karnataka, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some more parts of west-central and North Bay of Bengal, some more parts of parts of North-eastern states and some parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during next 2- 3 days.
Meanwhile, red and orange alerts for rainfall across several districts in Kerala over the next three days have been issued.
IMD’s Long Range Forecast For Southwest Monsoon
Earlier, the IMD had issued long Range Forecast for the Southwest Monsoon Seasonal Rainfall during 2025. The notification dated April 15, stated that the southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole is most likely to be above normal (>104% of the Long Period Average (LPA)). This indicates that the country is expected to receive “above-normal” rainfall, meaning more rain than usual. Director General of Meteorology at the IMD, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra in conversation with ANI, also stated that monsoon rains will be more than the normal range.
While it will be more than the normal in almost all states of India, some states will experience below-normal rainfall. The list where it will be below-normal includes north-eastern states, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, some areas in Bihar and Ladakh.
Good Monsoon Crucial For Agrarian Economy
A good monsoon season is extremely important for Agriculture-based country like India. Farmers across India are heavily dependent on rainfall and good monsoon season for a rich yield. The long range forecast indicates overall positive outlook for agriculture, especially for the rain-fed crops. More rainfall implies that farmers will have access to groundwater resources for irrigation purposes which will be recharged by the rainwater.
