NT NETWORK
PANAJI
After missing its normal arrival date of June 6, the onset of the southwest monsoon over Goa will now be delayed, a senior meteorological department official has said.
“The actual date of arrival of monsoon in the coastal state is June 6. The monsoon will be delayed and we can’t predict for how long. It has advanced over Kerala but will take more days to set over Goa and Konkan as the conditions are not favourable. All the energy required for the rainfall to advance was taken away by the severe cyclone ‘Mora’ that developed in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone has now crossed the Bangladesh coast,” said M L Sahu, the director of India Meteorological Department (IMD).
In 2015, the southwest monsoon was delayed by three days and had arrived on June 8, while last year it was delayed by a fortnight and had reached Goa on June 19.
The first week of June usually sees sporadic spells of pre-monsoon showers. However, so far, the spell has evaded the state with a few isolated showers recorded by the meteorological department. As a result, the days are likely to remain warmer, as the maximum temperature will remain slightly above normal in the coming days.
The pre-monsoon showers recorded from June 1 till date measure only 100.96 mm, which is 3.9 inches. Lack of moisture in the air and absence of convective activity have been ascertained as the main reasons for the sparse rainfall recorded by the weather department. “The pre-monsoon showers have stopped and now we are waiting for the conditions to get favourable for rainfall to occur,” said officials, although not willing to give an exact date depending on the progress of the southwest monsoon.
However, the Met department said moderate rain is likely to occur at a few places in Goa in the next four days, while heavy showers are expected at isolated places in the state on Tuesday.