- In an unusual turn, the monsoon simultaneously set in over Kerala and northeastern India.
- The monsoon system has two branches — the Arabian Sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch.
- The onset of the monsoon is defined with the Arabian Sea branch setting in over Kerala, which is usually June 1 and the other, setting in by June 5.
- The two branches eventually merge over Central India and sustain the southwest monsoon until September.
- This time however, partly under the influence of Cyclone Remal, the eastern branch arrived in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and most parts of Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam on May 30.
- Since 1990, such an onset has been reported in 1991, 1995, 1997, 2017 and now in 2024, according to data from the IMD.
Dig Deeper: What are the causes for the ‘breaks in Monsoon’?
