Panaji: Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds lashed Goa on Tuesday, claiming a life and causing damage to property by leaving trees uprooted on roads and homes.

In a tragic incident, an assistant manager of a private firm based at the Verna industrial estate died on the spot after a huge tree came crashing down on his moving car near Senaulim at Verna.

The state recorded the highest single-day rainfall of this month on Tuesday with intermittent intense rain spells leading to 117 mm of rain

between 8.30 am on Monday and 8.30 am on Tuesday.

Very heavy rainfall was witnessed with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 km/hr. The rain is expected to continue for the next 48 hours. An orange alert (heavy to very heavy rain warning) has been issued till Thursday by the weather bureau.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies 15.6-64.4 mm as moderate rain for 24 hours, while 64.5-115.5 mm rain is classified as heavy and 115.6-204.4 mm as very heavy. Rain over 204.5 mm is treated as extremely heavy rain for a period of 24 hours. 

Goa has witnessed a total of 25 heavy to very heavy rain days since June 1, taking the rain tally to 2,494.3 mm till August 4 with maximum rain recorded on July 17 at 137.2 mm followed by 117.1 mm on July 3 and 100.9 mm rainfall on June 3.

According to IMD, the state will experience widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rain during the next five days.

A low pressure that developed earlier on Tuesday over the Bay of Bengal has started moving westwards. It is expected to intensify further into a well-marked low pressure and make a landfall over West Bengal on Tuesday night with heavy rain mainly over eastern and central India through Wednesday.

Under its influence, the low level westerlies have strengthened over the Arabian Sea, resulting in heavy rainfall across the Konkan coast. 

In the past 24 hours, Pernem received the highest rainfall of 170.4 mm followed by Sanguem receiving 160 mm of rain, Quepem (140.2 mm) and Ponda (130.8 mm). Mormugao, Mapusa and Panaji recorded rainfall between 70-80 mm.