Seasonal rainfall deficit rises to 29% due to weak monsoon

Panaji: With not even one of the 14 centres recording any rainfall till Saturday morning, the deficit in rainfall due to the weak monsoon mounted to 28.6% on the weekend.On a dry day that followed another 24-hour phase of just 1mm of rain in the state till Friday morning, the seasonal total touched 72.5mm while the normal value at this stage should have been 101.5mm.Though the southwest monsoon had advanced about 12 days earlier on May 25, there were heavy downpours for a few days. A lean spell has followed subsequently due to weak conditions.A trough from east Vidarbha running towards north interior Karnataka 1.5km above mean sea level is the only active system.Two other systems, a trough and cyclonic circulation, have become less marked. The trough runs from central Maharashtra to coastal Andhra Pradesh, while the upper air cyclonic circulation spans over north interior Karnataka and its neighbourhood at 3.1km above mean sea level.The India Meteorological Department (IMD), Panaji, has forecast light to moderate rainfall at a few places over Goa on Sunday. For the next four days, till June 13, it may increase slightly, and light to moderate rainfall is likely over many places.With the weather being bright and sunny, the maximum temperature recorded on Friday was 32.8 degrees C, just 0.8 degrees above normal. But in the interiors, the heat levels and humidity are higher.During morning hours on Saturday, IMD recorded a minimum temperature of 26 degrees C, just 0.7 degrees above normal.