Meteorological department: Thunderstorms ahead, Goa to get light rains

PANAJI: Tuesday brought with it overcast skies, as the India meteorological department (IMD), Panaji, forecasts thunderstorms at a few places in the state.
“It is very likely to be accompanied with light to moderate rain, thunder, lightning and gusty winds reaching up to 20knots,” the meteorological department forecast stated.The cyclonic circulation over east central Arabian Sea off the south Maharashtra-Goa coast has triggered the change in weather.“These are the end of season showers with possibly thunder and lightning,” said scientist, IMD, Panaji, Rahul M.
The IMD also issued a nowcast on Tuesday. “The intensity of rain may decrease slightly after it crosses from Karnataka into Goa, but light rainfall is likely in some parts,” Rahul said.
On Tuesday, after three dry days with all 13 centres recording no rainfall, the seasonal total crawled to 2,376.7mm (93.5 inches) while a total of 2,920.9mm (114.9 inches) is considered normal. The deficit has now touched 18%, just one per cent within the normal range.
With the monsoon activity continuing to be weak during the last lap of the season, the possibilities of the seasonal deficit reducing have shrunk. The light to moderate rainfall is likely to be in isolated places.
The season started with a surplus of 9% in June, slid to a deficit of 9% in July and rose to 14% in August. Last year, heavy rainfall in September had reduced the deficit from 17% to 14%.