New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) The Southwest Monsoon, which brings seasonal rain to the Indian subcontinent, will hit Kerala on May 28, four days ahead of its normal onset date, private weather forecasting agency Skymet said today.

The monsoon is expected to reach the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 20 and is expected to advance further to Sri Lanka and over East Central Bay of Bengal on May 24, it said.

"The monsoon is expected to hit Kerala on May 28," Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change) of Skymet, said.

The normal date for onset of the monsoon in Kerala is June 1.

This year, the Skymet and India Meteorological Department have predicted a normal monsoon.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)