With Diwali approaching, the coastal region of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka could be in for some heavy rainfall. The first cyclone of the post-monsoon season—to be named ‘Kyarr’ once it intensifies into a cyclone—is set to form over the Arabian Sea within the next 48 hours.
Currently a depression over the east-central Arabian Sea, the system is expected to bring widespread rainfall with isolated very heavy rains over Konkan, Goa and coastal Karnataka on Thursday. The 24-hour rainfall accumulation till Thursday morning was 115 mm in Panaji and 83 mm in Mangaluru. Vengurla, a Maharashtra town just north of Goa, received 69.6 mm rainfall on Wednesday.
The rainfall intensity is only likely to increase as we head towards the weekend, with the possibility of extremely heavy rain over these regions on Friday. Therefore, the IMD has issued a red-level alert for districts along the west coast in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka for Friday.
Furthermore, the TWC Met Team suggests that a total rainfall of over 100-120 mm in 48 hours is possible over Goa between Thursday and Saturday.
Since the start of October, Goa has received 257.6 mm of rainfall—a ‘large excess’ of 87% as compared to the average amount of rain from the past few years. If the persistent downpour continues, not only will it further affect the state’s tourism season (which began on October 1), but could also dampen Diwali festivities there.
