Bhubaneswar: Southwest monsoon reached Odisha on Saturday, four days ahead of the schedule. In its evening bulletin on Saturday, the regional centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bhubaneswar said the monsoon set in over Odisha and covered some parts of Malkangiri district on the day.
The monsoon hit Kerala on June 5 and advanced over the entire south Arabian Sea, some parts of the central Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep, parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and parts of the Bay of Bengal before reaching Malkangiri.
The IMD forecast that light to moderate rain/thundershower is very likely a few places in Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts and at one or two places in North Coastal Odisha, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Rayagada, Sundargarh, Dhenkanal, Angul, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Jharsuguda, Bargarh and Kalahandi by 8.30 am on Sunday.
The Met office had forecast on Thursday that the monsoon is likely to arrive in Odisha in two to three days, ahead of its usual date of June 12. “Normally, the monsoon makes its way into Odisha around June 12 or 13. We expect its arrival in southern Odisha within next three days due to favourable conditions,” a senior scientist of IMD had said.