Wednesday 23 December 2015

Cool mornings and nights and plenty of sunshine during the day! Updated December 23, 2015

Finally, mornings have started to become cool and pleasant in Goa!

At 20.5C , the morning of December 23 was the coolest Goa has seen in December so far. 

The minimum temperatures have been steadily dropping since December 19. Day's high continues to remain around 33C. Plenty of sunshine during the day and a slight nip in the air late in the night and early mornings, for the coming days!



Saturday 12 December 2015

Race Day Weather for Goa River Marathon 2015 - Posted December 12, 2015

The very popular Goa River Marathon is scheduled to be held on December 13, 2015.

The hot and humid weather prevalent in Goa during the week, as reported in this post, has caused lot consternation for runners in Goa training to run for their half marathons or full marathons. Higher temperatures and humidity mean lower paces and lower finishing timings.

But some good news on the weather front at last, and just in time for the big event!

After the hazy conditions throughout the day on Friday December 11, the skies cleared overnight and have remained free of haze and clouds throughout the day on December 12.

Clear sky conditions are expected to persist on the morning of the Race Day on December 13!

Clear skies lower the temperatures in the morning!

December 11 saw morning temperatures zoom to a minimum of 25C nearly 4C above normal, but as a result of the clear skies on December 12, the minimum temperature came down to 23C, but with RH 95%, giving a heat index of 24C.

December 11 and 12 also saw winds blowing from the Arabian Sea from the West start setting in as early as 10 am, compared to around 3.30 pm in earlier days. This helped to bring down the day maximum temperatures significantly, from highs of around 34 - 35C to 31- 32C.

This trend in minimum and maximum temperatures will continue on the race day ie December 13!

We can expect minimum temperature of around 22C at the start of the Full Marathon at 5 am! But the humidity would continue to be in late 80s %RH!

Happy Running everyone!

Thursday 10 December 2015

A Hot December reminds of Summer - No respite from heat!

The trend of warm days from November, highlighted in this post, has continued in December as expected and December 2015 is poised to be one of the hottest months of recent times, if cool winds from the North and West are delayed.

Except for the first three days, the maximum day temperature has remained above 35C, touching a maximum of 35.8C on December 6, the same day the minimum temperature recorded 21.3C early morning, the lowest recorded so far this month.

















The NEM has remained active over south of southern Peninsula, and the winds following the lows from Bay of Bengal continue to blow from East to West.

In Goa, these easterlies are preventing the setting in of winds from the Sea blowing from the west, till about 3.30 pm! And it is due to this that the day highs are above 35C!

According to this report in The Times of India, quoting IMD sources, this will not be the first time high temperatures in December, have been experienced in Goa.

To quote from that report - "December, 2008, was the hottest month of that year. The average temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius was .4 degrees Celsius higher than during May, 2008. It was also the second hottest month in 38 years, the hottest being November 2004, when the average monthly maximum temperature recorded was 35.7 degrees Celsius."

While this December we have not yet reached 35.7C till December 9, the indications are that hazy conditions and east blowing winds will extend at least till the next week.

So if you are visiting Goa this December, pack in light cottons and your beach-wear!

Thursday 3 December 2015

A Hot November 2015 for Goa

November 2015 in Goa felt more like the month of March and April.

Normally November heralds chilly mornings, fog and dew. The days continue to be warm, but afford a break from the usual October heat.

However November 2015 was warmer than November 2014, with average Low more than 2C higher and Average High continuing to be higher than normal.

Based on Observations at IMD, Panaji - Goa
This was mainly attributed to the string of Lows from Bay of Bengal, blowing west across the southern peninsula. This resulted in more overcast conditions in the early mornings and during the days.

The East blowing wind, prevented the cool north winds as also the west winds from the sea from setting in, raising the average temperature.

The daily temperature trend is as below. Maximum temperature recorded during the month was 35.7C and the minimum 21.0C

 The trend is expected into early part of December.