Hyderabad experienced light rain and a light thunderstorm in the early morning hours of May 15. The IMD has predicted thunderstorm in isolated areas across the state on May 15.

According to Deccan Chronicle, IMD issued an orange alert for several districts, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and winds reaching 50-60 kmph over the next five days.

Crops Suffer Extensive Damage

Deccan Chronicle reported that the rain spells disrupted harvesting across Telangana, damaging paddy stored at procurement centres in Mulugu and flattening standing crops in Mancherial, Siddipet, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Warangal, Sangareddy and Vikarabad. Early estimates indicate significant losses to paddy, maize and mango yields between May 12 and 14.

Considering the current weather shift, IMD has predicted that the monsoon may hit the state earlier than usual, with its arrival expected around June 4 or 5, nearly a week ahead of the typical onset date of June 8 to 10, reported TOI.

“This shift comes as part of a larger pattern, with the southwest monsoon likely to hit Kerala by May 27, five to six days in advance,” A Sravani, a scientist with the IMD told TOI.

Shifting Weather Pattern

Weather experts attribute this early onset to stronger-than-usual cross-equatorial flow and increased moisture transport from the Bay of Bengal.

“Usually, the monsoon’s journey begins over the South Andaman Sea by May 15 and it moves toward Sri Lanka around May 22, reaching the Myanmar coast by May 26. From there, it sweeps into Kerala around June 1; however, this time it has been preponed,” AVM Sharma, a meteorologist with Skymet, an independent weather forecast agency told TOI.

According to him, the last time such early onset was recorded was in 2009, when rain reached Kerala on May 23 and before June end, it covered this region.

In addition, TOI attributed the shift in weather pattern to rapid urbanisation, rising emissions and the urban heat island effect that are interacting with broader climatic shifts to create unpredictable pattern.

Another major factor is the loss of forest cover in the state. Citing Telangana’s recorded forest area (RFA) which declined from 18,561.98 sq km in 2021 to 18,456.11 sq km in 2023, TOI stated that environmentalists warn that even small losses in green cover-,especially around urban and semi-urban areas, can drastically impact local temperature regulation.

Source - https://www.outlookbusiness.com