Heavy rainfall could up seasonal total: scientist

TEAM HERALD

PANJIM: A monsoon expert said that the ongoing trend of intense rainfall can be a good sign for the seasonal total rainfall. However, he said the prolonged break in monsoon conditions post this spell could be bad.

NIO chief scientist Ramesh Kumar told Herald that the current type of rainfall which is intense (more than 10 cm /day) can contribute more to the seasonal total than low and moderate of rainfall. “However, if there is intense rainfall and prolonged break in monsoon conditions, then it is not good for the state or the country,” he said. 

Goa has been witnessing continuous spell of heavy to very heavy showers for last five days, with state IMD observatory recording nearly 15inches of rainfall. The total seasonal rainfall so far has been 30 inches. The state’s seasonal rainfall crosses the 100 inch mark every year. 

The scientist explains that state’s need is a spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall for each of the meteorological subdivisions.

Kumar, who has done intense study on the monsoon conditions across the world, said that though there have been predictions that the monsoon over the country will be deficit it was likely that season will pick up by mid-June.

 “There have been predictions that the monsoon over the country will be deficit this year, due to El NIno occurring over the Pacific Ocean. But I feel that the rainfall will pick during the month of June over most parts of the country as there no convective systems in the western Pacific Ocean during this month,” he explained.

“Everyday within the monsoon season it does not rain the same way, some days, it rains heavily we call it active monsoon conditions, some days it is weak over most of the Indian subcontinent, then we call it break in monsoon conditions,” he added.

Panjim: IMD Goa has predicted heavy showers for the state for next five more days. showers would be accompanied by gusty winds and thunderstorms. 

Considering the rough sea conditions, the fishermen have been asked not to venture into sea for next 24 hours. Under the influence of active monsoon conditions and steep pressure gradients, a ports warning has also been issued.