After a brief hiatus, the southwest monsoon conditions have strengthened across the State with the intensification of monsoon flow of wind from the Arabian Sea. North and central Kerala will have some intense spells of rain compared to the rest of State for the next week, with spillover rain even benefitting parts of south Kerala.

The peak monsoon feature offshore trough, which was in a feeble condition, has now turned into active mode with the trough extending from the Gujarat coast to the south Kerala coast on Tuesday. The strengthening westerlies are expected to dump moisture from the Arabian Sea into the trough and flow into the landmass of Kerala, triggering some intense spells.

Further, the monsoon trough is at present connecting two weather systems — a depression that is centred over central parts of north Rajasthan and another depression over Southeast Gangetic West Bengal, which now moved over Jharkhand on Tuesday — fortifying each other to sustain the rainfall activity, said V.K. Mini, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The current spell is likely to bridge the shortfall of July rain over the State, with the north half of Kerala having the lion’s share of rain, including parts of central Kerala. However, the rest of the region, particularly southern districts like Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, may not have any intense spells, although patchy and short-duration spells are likely.

The places to watch out for heavy rain include parts of Wayanad and Idukki, where normal rainfall has been prevailing during the last two weeks, although the monsoon was relatively weak over the State in the first half of July compared to June rainfall. Excess or normal precipitation in Ghat regions will have a cumulative impact, as the soil in the regions is already soaked in rainwater. Although the IMD has not issued any red alert, a situation resembling a red alert is likely in parts of central and north Kerala during the weekend, said Ms. Mini.

Kudulu in Kasaragod district recorded the highest rainfall of 13 cm during the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by Muliyar and Bayar in Kasaragod with 11 cm each. An orange alert has been issued warning of heavy to very heavy rain for five districts — Idukki, Ernakulam, Thirssur, Kannur and Kasaragod — on Wednesday, and a yellow alert for the rest of the State forecasting isolated heavy rain.