July turns out to be wet saviour for Goa

The month of July 2009 has brought plenty of cheer to many stakeholders with their fortunes dictated fully or partly by the rains in Goa. In over the last 11 days Goa has witnessed heavy to very heavy rainfall which was received with a welcome lap by most Goans although the heavy downpour did contribute to flooding in some city areas and damaged houses and establishments in certain areas of Goa. However much of that blame has to go to the irresponsible sense of development that has been heaped on Goans by various vested lobbies than the contribution of the blessed rains.

Astonishingly, the rains in the last 11 days have helped to wipe out the deficit of around 15% experienced in last months tally while also producing a surplus of around 25%. In June this year, the seasonal rainfall had been measured at 74 cm as compared to the average of 89 cm for that month.

However the bountiful pouring in the last two weeks have helped the seasonal total to reach 156 cm or 61 inches of rainfall in Goa. So while over 30 days of June provided only 74 cm of rainfall, the last 11 days of July have helped produce over 82 cm of rainfall thereby adding to the obvious cheer.

The total seasonal rainfall that Goa receives is at an average of 262 cm (around 104 inches) which is considered as normal for Goa. With over two months of the monsoon season still to come, there is a widespread positive feeling among meteorologists in Goa that this year would therefore be a normal year of rainfall in Goa.

The month of June 2009 was a shade drier than that in last year which witnessed 78 cm of rainfall compared to 74 cm this year and over 107 cm in 2007. However it was the year 1991 when Goa witnessed the lowest rain turnout in the month of June which was a measly 45 cm while the highest recorded rainfall for Goa in June was observed in June 1999 at a staggering 158 cm of rainfall.