Extreme rainfall marked 2019 monsoon: IMD

NEWDELHI: In 2019, 21 of the country’s 559 meteorological stations registered new 24-hour rainfall records compared to 12 stations in 2018, 16 in 2017, 12, again, in 2016 and 18 in 2015.

Last year also saw the highest proportion of districts, 77%, in at least 13 years register excess or normal rainfall, according to the India Meteorological Department’s 2019 monsoon report released on Wednesday.

“The season had several record-breaking extreme rainfall and resultant flood events that caused human casualty and damage to property in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” the report said. Some weather stations that registered new rainfall records were Kodaikanal, Vadodara, Coorg, Ooty, Alibaug, and Belgaum.

The report , which captures the extremities of last year’s monsoon and meteorological factors which led to floods in Mumbai, Kerala and Bihar was released at IMD’S 145th foundation day celebration on Wednesday.

IMD’S analysis of the 2019 Kerala floods revealed that the conditions leading to extremely heavy rainfall were very similar to those of 2018 and that the Western Ghats made the state vulnerable to such unprecedented rainfall. Kerala received rainfall that was 123% above normal in August , and above 187% and between August 1 and 15.

The report stated that the extremely heavy rainfall spell in the state could be attributed to the formation of a depression over the northwest Bay of Bengal on August 6. This system intensified and moved northwest on August 7 and 9 which led to the strengthening of westerly and south-westerly winds along the Kerala coast as the cross equatorial monsoon flow increased.

“This essentially means that the monsoon winds were running perpendicular to the Western Ghats which acts as an obstruction. This leads to thickening of clouds and severe rainfall. This was seen in 2018 too. But in 2018 there was enhanced rainfall from June which also led to filling up of reservoirs in Kerala,” explained Sunitha Devi, senior IMD scientist who co-edited the report. The 2018 floods in Kerala resulted in over 400 deaths and caused untold destruction in the state.