The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued a 'red' alert for Goa and predicted heavy rains along with strong winds in the coastal state over the next 24 hours, according to PTI reports.
In an official statement, the weather office said, "Moderate to heavy spells of rain accompanied with winds of speed 40 to 50 kilometres per hour gusting to 60 kmph."
It also informed that clouds were present in the morning over Pernem, Tiswadi, Bardez, Bicholim, and Sattari (all in North Goa district) talukas of the state.
“More clouds are approaching from the Arabian Sea. More talukas are also likely to get affected as clouds are moving generally in the north-eastern direction,” the weather forecasting agency added.
Following the rainfall warning, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has activated its control rooms in both the North and South Goa districts, as per PTI reports.
“Extremely heavy rains are forecast for Goa in the next 24 hours. Members of the public are advised not to venture into waterlogged or flood-prone areas,” the SDMA said.
Drishti Marine, the state government-appointed lifesaving agency, advised people not to venture into the sea due to the high water levels and rough weather conditions.
On September 30, the IMD said that the southwest monsoon in India remained subdued to some extent, resulting in “below-average" cumulative rainfall.
The cumulative rainfall in the four months of monsoon – June to September – amounted to 820 mm, which is lower than the long-period average (LPA) of 868.6 mm.
Rainfall activity ranging between 96 percent and 104 percent of the LPA is defined as normal. In 2022, India had recorded “normal" amount of cumulative rain, whereas, the overall precipitation in monsoon was “above-normal" in 2021.
In a pre-monsoon briefing, the IMD had predicted a normal monsoon for India, albeit on the lower side of normal. It had, however, cautioned that El Nino might influence the latter half of the southwest monsoon.
(With PTI inputs)
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