Delay likely in Goa’s date with monsoon

Panaji: The India meteorological department on Thursday said the onset of the monsoon over Goa is likely to be delayed by a few days. 

The monsoon is now expected to arrive before June 10, and not on the normal date of June 6.

The IMD said that as per latest observation there is no rainfall activity advance over the west coast, but from June 7 there will be enhanced rainfall activity; at the same time a low-pressure area will develop in the Bay of Bengal.

“Associated with this event, conditions are likely to become favourable for advance of the southwest monsoon into Goa and some parts of south Konkan by the first half of next week, mostly before June 10,” the IMD explained.

Last year, the monsoon hit the Goa coast on June 20, which had been a delay of 14 days.

The progress into the south peninsula and central India too had remained sluggish, mainly due to the formation of a very-severe cyclonic storm Vayu over the Arabian Sea from June 10 to 19, which had sucked out a lot of moisture.

After a delayed onset, the monsoon had started with a deficit of 14 per cent. However, the excess rains later had brought down the monthly deficit to zero, touching at 23 per cent excess.

The increased frequency of downpour had taken the excess rains to 64 per cent in August.