Goa sees highest 24-hour rainfall in 5 years, orange alert till Saturday

PANAJI: The state received its highest 24-hour average rainfall in five years, with 156mm recorded from 8.30am on Monday till Tuesday morning. The IMD has issued an orange alert over Goa till Saturday, warning of very heavy rain exceeding 11.5cm on all days.
Till Monday, the state received 1,203mm (47.4 inches) of rainfall, 13% more than it did by this stage last year.

With the number of monsoon-enhancing systems present, the rainfall is expected to be higher than normal in the coming days too, said IMD scientist Rahul M. A low-pressure area over Madhya Pradesh, another over northwest Bay of Bengal, and an offshore trough along the west coast are all likely to increase the rainfall over Konkan and Goa, he said.
All stations received heavy rainfall, having recorded between 125mm and 195mm till 8.30am on Tuesday. Sanguem came out tops, with 222.2mm in a day, followed by Mapusa with 195mm, and then Ela (Old Goa) with 174.2 mm. Panaji received the lowest rainfall of 125.8mm.
Further, almost all the stations’ seasonal rainfall counts have crossed the 1000mm threshold, with Pernem receiving the highest of 1392.2mm (54.8 inches), followed by Canacona with 1241.8mm and the Mormugao with 1205.1mm. The lowest rainfall recorded was over Sanquelim, which is 29mm short of the 1000mm mark.
IMD data reveals that in the three decadees, only on five instances has Goa received more rain that it did on Monday. It said that 163mm was received on July 3, 2013, 211mm on June 7, 2009, 225mm on July 27, 2005, 287mm on July 24, 1998 and 292mm on June 15, 1996. “There could still be numerous occasions when the daily average rainfall has exceeded today’s value,” Rahul M said.
The monsoon set in over Kerala on May 29 and covered the entire Indian subcontinent by July 2. Its onset over the state was delayed by a hiatus in the progress of its northern limit from Karwar to Goa by more than 10 days (May 31 to June 9). It finally arrived in Goa by June 10. Since then, the state has seen weak, normal and active conditions in various phases.
The daily quantum hit 156.2mm on on Monday, thrice Sunday’s rainfall of 52.8mm. “Monday’s one-day rainfall for Goa has made it (the monsoon) from deficit to surplus or excess rainfall in no time. So now, the state has an excess of 13.2% till Tuesday morning,” said MR Ramesh Kumar, meteorologist and retired NIO scientist.
“The mid-monsoon months of July and August are also incidentally peak monsoon months, which contribute 61% of the seasonal total, so the rainfall during these months can make or break the fate of the monsoon rainfall amounts of the various meteorological subdivisions,” he added.