After dull start, monsoon picks up in Goa

The South West monsoon, which had set in Goa on June 6, remained weak after raining for two days, Goa Met office director K V Singh said.

The downpour, which has begun with a full gush from this morning, is likely to continue, Singh said.

"It rained in certain parts of the state. But the capital city of Panaji remained dry for last two days," he said, adding that while the border taluka of Pernem recorded 4 cm rains on Sunday, Panaji had only 0.3 mm rains.

For two days after monsoon had set in, there were heavy rains because of cyclonic circulation off Goa-Karnataka coast. "But later the current became weak," the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) director said.

The IMD hopes that the rains will intensify now from this week onwards.

As compared to last year, the rainfall was low for the first few days of monsoon. Last year, the first four days had recorded 239.8 mm of rains compared to 176 mm this year, he said.

Goa had received 296 cm rains during the last monsoon season, which had prolonged till December.