Indication of a low-pressure area developing in the Bay of Bengal is a good news for the advancement of monsoon, a senior official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Thursday.
Thursday evening report of the IMD confirmed that the outer line of monsoon had reached across Kannur in Karnataka and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
Cyclone Vayu had slowed down monsoon's progress, the IMD had said earlier.
"A couple of days back, we were solely dependent on Vayu getting weakened as it had pulled all the required winds and slowed down the southwest monsoon's progress in the country," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"Today, we noticed indication of a low-pressure area getting developed in the Bay of Bengal, which always helps in the advancement of southwest monsoon towards northern part," he told PTI.
"Generally, by this date southwest monsoon is supposed to arrive in Maharashtra, but it is still far away. Earlier observations had indicated that Vayu would take a couple
of more days to weaken which will make way for monsoon to move northwards," the official said.
"With signs of low-pressure area getting developed in the Bay of Bengal, whatever develops there is certainly going to benefit the advancement of southwest monsoon over the country and it can bring showers," the IMD official predicted.
"The next two days would give an idea about the strength of cyclonic storm Vayu and how the signs of low-pressure area develops further," he said.
Sparing Gujarat after changing course, cyclone Vayu Thursday began moving away from Gujarat coast towards Oman.