Pre-monsoon drizzle cools Surat

A persistent drizzle on Friday morning in majority areas gave southern Gujarat city Surat much-needed respite from the sweltering heat.

“This is a pre-monsoon shower, and it happens ten to 15 days before the actual onset of the monsoon,’’ weather expert said.

Weather experts attributed the pre-monsoon drizzle to the arrival of south-west monsoon winds in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Wednesday. “The conditions are now favorable for its advance to Kerala by May 26,’’ an expert said. “But the exact date for the onset of the monsoon in Gujarat can be predicted only when it reaches Goa or Karwar,’’ he added.

Even though the amount of rainfall on Friday was too little, it brought instant relief to a city enveloped by sweltering heat for much of the summer.