At 29°C, Mormugao clocked its warmest night on May 28

Panaji: Parts of Goa continued to swelter as minimum temperatures once again touched 29°C, this time in Mormugao on Thursday night. It was the third time this month that the minimum crossed 29°C.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), Panaji, records day and night temperatures only in Panaji and Mormugao. Temperatures are expected to be higher in hinterland areas, away from the sea breeze.

The highest minimum this summer was 29.2°C in Panaji on May 23, about 2.2°C above normal. It was among Goa’s warmest nights, though the record remains 29.8°C on May 23, 2023.

Panaji had earlier recorded a minimum of 29°C on May 11. The first half of May also saw daytime temperatures near 36°C on most days, with nights around 28°C, making it one of the hottest spells in decades.

“There is hardly any record of temperatures rising persistently during both day and night in a single season,” said M R Ramesh Kumar, retired chief scientist at NIO. He called the rise in minimum temperatures in Mormugao and Panaji “alarming” and linked it to climate change.

Kumar attributed the trend to urbanisation, the heat island effect, higher humidity and increased solar radiation.

Warm nights were also recorded in April, with IMD logging minimum temperatures of 28.6°C on April 29 and 28.4°C on April 27.

In Mormugao, the hot and humid night was followed by a sultry day. The IMD recorded a maximum of 34.8°C on Friday, nearly 2°C above normal.