The southwest monsoon on Wednesday finally arrived over parts of the North Andaman Sea and the Southeast Bay of Bengal, and the entire South Andaman Sea and Nicobar Islands, according to private forecaster Skymet Weather.

Conditions are favourable for the southwest monsoon to progress over Sri Lanka and further over more parts of the South Bay of Bengal and Andaman Islands, and the rest of the North Andaman Sea in the next three to four days, the weather report added. However, Skymet clarified that the timely onset of the monsoon cannot be related to how it progresses.

The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal is the likely reason behind the beginning of the monsoon, it said. The depression may intensify into a cyclone in next 24 hours, it added. Skymet also forecast a timely onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala, while the Indian Meteorological Department had said earlier this week that the southwest monsoon will take slightly longer to reach Kerala this year. The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala signals the arrival of the rainy season in India.