The Bay of Bengal is beginning to look like a busy monsoon assembly line, with one rain-bearing low-pressure system after another lining up to keep the basin active well into early September.
Warm sea-surface temperatures across the north and central Bay are providing ample fuel. Some systems are forming in situ, while others are arriving as remnants of storms that have crossed the West Pacific and South China Sea. The result is a restless Bay, churning out weather systems with little sign of a slowdown.
The southern Arabian Sea and adjoining northern equatorial Indian Ocean have warmed in tandem. That has helped sustain moisture-laden westerly to south-westerly winds across the west coast, feeding into the prevailing low-pressure area over West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand and north Odisha. The payoff has been a sharp burst of rain along the coast from Mangaluru to Thiruvananthapuram, dampening Onam festivities.
