PANAJI
The Southwest monsoon roared back with vigour over Goa this week, drenching the State with its heaviest single-day spell of the season and pushing the overall rainfall tally into surplus.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Goa, a total of 162.1 mm of rain was recorded in the past 24 hours ending 8:30 am Thursday -- the highest single-day total this season.
The deluge took the State’s cumulative rainfall to 2,774.3 mm, surpassing the normal of 2,631.8 mm and placing the monsoon at a 5.4 per cent surplus. With this, Goa also crossed the 100-inch mark, now standing at 109.2 inches.
Sanquelim recorded extremely heavy rainfall with 206.4 mm, while other centres too were lashed with very heavy rain: Sanguem (190.1 mm), Ponda (185.8 mm), Quepem (180 mm), Dharbandora (176.4 mm), Mapusa (172 mm), Pernem (163.4 mm), Old Goa (162.4 mm), Canacona (154.8 mm) and Panaji (146.2 mm). Mormugao (95.4 mm) and Dabolim (92.8 mm) reported heavy showers.
The downpour on Wednesday coincided with the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi, leaving several low-lying areas waterlogged and tree-fall incidents reported across the State. Yet, the rains failed to dampen festive spirits, with devotees continuing celebrations. Holiday traffic meant no major disruptions were reported.
“The State recorded surplus rainfall days after it recorded modest surplus last month, only to fall back into deficit,” an IMD official said. The IMD has placed Goa on Yellow alert on Friday, no weather warning on Saturday, August 30 and back to Yellow alert from Aug 31 to Sept 3 when isolated rainfall is forecasted.
