The southwest monsoon (June-September) is likely to reach the Kerala coast at least a few days ahead of usual schedule of June 1, private weather forecaster Skymet said on Wednesday. “Monsoon is likely to reach over Andaman and Nicobar Islands between May 18 and May 20. Thereafter, southwest monsoon is likely to arrive over Kerala between May 28 and May 30, simultaneously covering some parts of northeast India,” Skymet said in a statement.

The weather forecaster also noted that the presence of active inter-tropical convergence zone – ITCZ in the Indian Ocean is primarily responsible for bringing the monsoon little early, it said. It noted that several active cyclonic circulations can be seen embedded in ITCZ. Besides this, cloud configuration, atmospheric conditions and oceanic parameters are also indicating towards favourable weather conditions.