Onset of the Monsoon

The onset of monsoon rains is viewed in monsoon literature as the burst of the monsoon, commonly in the form of a great thunderstorm. Prediction of the onset of monsoon helps farmers to select the most suitable crops to sow and to determine when to prepare the land. Predicting the timing of the monsoon has been an onerous task for the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), almost from its beginning. Since 1878, forecasts of monsoon rainfall has been issued by this department regularly.