Panaji, Mormugao logs hottest February in 54 years

On February 13 the highest maximum temperature was 37.9 degrees Celsius in the city

Panaji: Panaji and Mormugao recorded the hottest February in the past 54 years with a mean maximum temperature above 35 degrees Celsius.

The state typically records a maximum temperature of 32.4 °C in February, but most days this February saw temperatures three to five °C above average.

Although February is a winter month, the locals didn’t feel that way. This was the fifth time since 1989 that Panaji experienced the highest average maximum temperature for the most days, with ten days in the month experiencing temperatures that rose to or above 35 degrees Celsius. In Mormugao, eight days of the hottest weather in fifty years were experienced.

The weather data shared by officials revealed that Mormugao experienced four days in February in 2006 with a maximum temperature above 35 degrees. After a 14-year break, the number of days experiencing extreme weather increased to five in 2021 and again to eight this year.

In a similar vein, Panaji experienced unusually high temperatures this February compared to the previous two years, with an increase in the maximum number of days above 35 degrees Celsius. There were previously ten days of exceptionally hot weather in 1989, which fell to nine days in 1999 before increasing to eleven days in 2006, seven days in 2013 and 2018, and eight days in 2020.

“Due to the fluctuating wind speed and delayed sea breeze’s arrival, February saw high temperatures, but due to the low humidity, discomfort levels were not as high as the temperature. The solar light during the day increased the temperature because most days had clear skies”, according to IMD scientist Rahul M.

He said there is no indication that the state’s current weather will significantly change in the next two to three days.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between 1969 and 2023, the second highest average maximum temperature in February recorded at Panaji was in 2013 at 33.7 degrees Celsius, and 33.4 degrees Celsius was reported in 2021 for Mormugao.

The third highest mean maximum temperature in the same month was reported in 2017 at 33 degrees Celsius in Mormugao, and 33.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at Panaji in 2021.

IMD’s data shows that on February 13, the highest maximum temperature was 37.9 degrees Celsius in Panaji, 5.5 notches above normal, making it the warmest month in twenty-four years. Again on February 16, the city experienced its second-highest maximum temperature in over a decade, measuring 38.2 degrees Celsius.

According to IMD records, Panaji’s highest temperature was measured on February 20, 1999, at 37.7 degrees, and the second-highest temperature was recorded three years later, on February 9, 2001, at 37.4 degrees Celsius.

The all-time record for the highest maximum temperature in the month is 39.2 degrees Celsius on February 21, 2009. On February 29, 1984, it reached its second-highest temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.

According to the IMD, the average maximum temperature for the season (March-May) in South Goa is likely to be higher than normal, while in North Goa it is likely to be normal.