Panaji: Despite a rain alert issued by the India Meteorological Department, Goa continued to reel under intense heat on Monday, with little to no respite for residents. Daytime temperatures hovered around 33°C in Panaji, but high humidity levels pushed the “feels like” temperature to a sweltering 42.6°C, making outdoor conditions particularly uncomfortable. Until now, the “feels like” temperature was below 41°C.“The first month of pre-monsoon season, the month of March, has been extremely hot, and the sky over the state of Goa has been mostly cloudy, mostly overcast, and ready to precipitate at any moment, but the state has received little or hardly any rainfall so far. Also, both the maximum and minimum temperatures are rising day by day. Further, there is a gradual buildup of relative humidity over the entire state of Goa. Further, this rise in relative humidity increases the discomfort index, and thus raises the effective temperatures over the various places substantially,” said meteorologist and retired chief scientist, M R Ramesh Kumar.On Monday, parts of Goa experienced light rainfall and windy conditions, but there was no relief from the prevailing heat, with maximum temperatures remaining high.Data from the India Meteorological Department’s observatories showed that both Panaji and Mormugao recorded maximum temperatures of 34°C, slightly above normal by one degree C. Minimum temperatures hovered around 25°C.Despite intermittent showers, temperatures are expected to remain largely unchanged in the coming days. The IMD has forecast isolated light rain or thundershowers over Goa during the afternoon or evening hours on March 31 and April 1.
