Panaji: Goa has recorded its driest monsoon season in five decades, with the state receiving only around 80 inches of rainfall between June 1 and Sept 30 against the seasonal average of nearly 118 inches, resulting in a deficit of about 32%. The deficit is the highest recorded in the state since 2010 and marks a sharp departure from the high-rainfall years Goa has experienced in recent times.According to India meteorological department (IMD) director Nahush Kulkarni, the present season stands out both in terms of the overall rainfall received and the magnitude of the deficit.“When compared with historical records, the present year has emerged as the driest monsoon season in the past 50 years and has also recorded the highest rainfall deficiency over the past 1.5 decades,” he told TOI.Historical data from 1980–2026 shows that, so far, the largest seasonal rainfall deficits were recorded in 2006 (−29%), 1986 (−23%), 2015 (−21%) and 2018 (−19%). Thus, based on the dataset considered, 2026 recorded the largest seasonal rainfall deficit over Goa during the 1980–2026 period.This season, Goa recorded 2,055.4 mm of rainfall over the course of the four monsoon months, against the normal of 3,007.8 mm, resulting in a seasonal departure of nearly 32%. The state received approximately 952.4 mm less rainfall than normal during this southwest monsoon season as a result.If we compare the last five years’ data, in 2020 Goa recorded excess rainfall of 40%, followed by 5% excess in 2021, a deficit of 9% in 2022, 12% excess in 2023, 47% excess in 2024 and 4% excess rainfall in 2025.IMD attributed the rainfall decline this year to a number of factors.“In June, the formation of a cyclone or severe cyclone over the South China Sea pulled moisture towards the Bay of Bengal, delaying the onset of the monsoon. That was one of the prominent reasons. Further, the jet streams were not strong enough to push the southwest winds towards the west coast and the Indian subcontinent. These factors affected the early phase of the monsoon,” he said.“July is the peak monsoon month and normally accounts for the highest rainfall. However, July also recorded deficient rainfall this year, including a prolonged dry spell of around 10 days. If July does not perform well, it becomes difficult to make up the rainfall deficit during the remaining months. Unfortunately, July underperformed, and August and September also did not receive sufficient rainfall. These factors together contributed to the significant rainfall deficit recorded this monsoon,” Kulkarni said.Monsoon withdrawal is expected by Oct 10.
