Laila may delay monsoon onset over Kerala, says IMD chief

Cyclone Laila, which is currently just off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, could delay the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala, Ajit Tyagi, Director General of the India Meteorological Department, said today.

�It (Laila) may have some bearing on the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala, but we will check moisture content in air, wind speed and sub surface sea temperature over Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal before we can spell out the exact impact, said Tyagi.

He said the storm is likely to fizzle out by May 24-25, after which the Met would check weather parameters to reassess the status of southwest monsoon.

The Met department had announced onset of southwest monsoon rains over Kerala around May 30 and expects monsoon rains to be �normal� at 98 per cent of the long period average.

Met department officials said the cyclone may delay onset of monsoon rains as �Laila seems to be heading north.