Heavy rains lash parts of Kerala; IMD issues orange alert in 4 districts

The India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert for four Kerala districts, warning of very heavy rain and gusty winds due to the approaching monsoon.

With the onset of monsoon in Kerala drawing closer, the IMD on Saturday issued an orange alert in four districts for the evening as heavy rains lashed parts of the state.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in Thrissur, Kollam, Kottayam and Idukki districts for three hours from 4 pm.

An orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm.

It said that thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and gusty winds reaching speeds of 40 to 60 kilometers per hour were likely at one or two places in these districts.

Additionally, the IMD predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate rainfall and winds reaching 40 Kmph at one or two places in the Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts of the state.

The IMD had recently forecast widespread light to moderate rainfall with isolated instances of heavy rainfall accompanied with thunderstorms and gusty winds in various parts of Kerala till May 27.

It had also predicted isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over parts of Kerala between May 28 and June 3.