Interannual Variability of the Onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon and Its Association with Atmospheric Features, El Niño, and Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

Abstract

Abstract The long-term mean date of the monsoon onset over Kerala (MOK) varies between 30 May and 2 June according to different estimates, with a standard deviation of 8–9 days. The earliest date of MOK, and the most delayed one, during the last 100 years differ by 46 days (7 May and 22 June, respectively). MOK switches on a spatially large and intense convective heat source over south Asia, lasting from June to September, whose moisture supply is made available through the cross-equatorial low-level jet stream. Superposed epoch analysis of 10 years of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data shows that MOK is a significant stage in the evolution of the OLR field in the tropics of the eastern hemisphere. At the time of MOK there is increased convection in a band about 5–10 degrees wide meridionally, extending from the south Arabian Sea to south China, and convection is suppressed all around, particularly in the western Pacific Ocean. In 1983 when MOK was delayed by about 3 pentads, OLR data showed that the ...