Southwest monsoon onset 3 months earlier than usual
It is like the southwest monsoon has made an unusually early onset over the northern Indian Ocean with southwest cross-equatorial winds reaching all the way to Bangladesh on April 1st.
A monsoon depression associated with shower and thunderstorm activity lied to the west of Phuket on April 1st.
Southwesterly winds above 50 km/h at the 850 hPa level were present over Phuket. Phuket Airport experienced their windiest southwesterly wind day in more than 20 years ( I don't have access to data prior to 2000).
Last year, the earliest that at the surface, an average southwesterly wind of intensity like that seen on April 1st 2021 was on August 3 2020 and in 2019 it was on June 25 and in 2018 was on June 15 and in 2017 was on July 30th.
Southwesterly winds over the northern Indian Ocean reaching south Thailand and even Bangladesh with a monsoon depression to the west of Phuket:
A monsoon depression associated with shower and thunderstorm activity lied to the west of Phuket on April 1st.
Southwesterly winds above 50 km/h at the 850 hPa level were present over Phuket. Phuket Airport experienced their windiest southwesterly wind day in more than 20 years ( I don't have access to data prior to 2000).
Last year, the earliest that at the surface, an average southwesterly wind of intensity like that seen on April 1st 2021 was on August 3 2020 and in 2019 it was on June 25 and in 2018 was on June 15 and in 2017 was on July 30th.
Southwesterly winds over the northern Indian Ocean reaching south Thailand and even Bangladesh with a monsoon depression to the west of Phuket:
Southwesterly 850 hPa winds more than 50 km/h present over Phuket:
Climatological average winds in April: