Team Herald
PANJIM: The late arrival of the monsoon and scarce rainfall has left the State with a deficit of 22 percent in the average seasonal rainfall for the period from June 1 to August 9 with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) revealing that the deficit will not be covered.
As per data with IMD, Goa received 69.48 inches of rainfall from June 1 to August 9 against the average of 89.48 inches.
Speaking to Herald, IMD-Goa, Director, M L Sahu said, “The basic reason is that for the month of July, the State received 25 percent less rainfall and this is due to the less activeness of the offshore trough which generally continues for many days off the west coast of Maharashtra to Kerala.”
He said that cumulative rainfall from June 1 to August 9 was 1,764 mm against the normal precipitation of 2,273 mm, which was minus 22 percent less than the normal rainfall.
He added, “This year the offshore trough is very weak and was often not present but whenever it is present it very weak and due to this the State is left with a deficit of 22 percent which is not going to be covered. We are expecting the rainfall will improve.
“Light to moderate rain/thundershower is most likely to occur at most places over Goa state during next five days” the IMD weather forecast states.
IMD on Wednesday recorded temperatures of 31.3 degrees Celsius. The weather report states that in the past 24 hours Dabolim and Margao recorded 4 cm rainfall each, while Sanguem and Quepem recorded 3 cms each, Canancona and Ela (Old Goa) recorded only 1 cm each with Mormugao recording 2 cms.
The forecast for Panjim in the next 24 hours is few spells of rain/thundershowers with temperatures likely to be around 31 and 25 degrees Celsius.
