Port Blair, May 19: Widespread rainfall has occurred over the Nicobar Islands during the last two days. The South-West monsoon has announced its timely onset over the South Andaman Sea, some parts of the South Bay of Bengal and the Nicobar Islands on Saturday afternoon.
The onset was declared the after ascertaining signal features such as strengthening and deepening of cross-equatorial monsoon flows over the Andaman Sea.
Westerly winds have strengthened in the lower levels of the atmosphere (upto 28 km/hr) and deepened (upto six km) over the South Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and southern parts of the South Bay.
There has been persistent cloudiness from Wednesday onwards over the South Andaman Sea, adjoining South Bay and the Nicobar Islands, noted India Met Department (IMD) declaring the monsoon onset.
An east-west shear zone of monsoon turbulence runs along across the South Bay, the Nicobar Islands and the South Andaman Sea, it added in a special bulletin issued on Saturday afternoon.
Conditions are favorable for further advance of the monsoon into some more parts of the South Bay, the North Andaman Sea and the Andaman Islands during the next four days.