Mumbai got 77% of annual average rain in June, July
MUMBAI: Despite a drop in rainfall activity for almost a fortnight, Mumbai has received 77% of its annual average rain during June and July, the first months of the monsoon season.
The weather bureau said the dry spell over north Konkan coast, including Mumbai, is expected to continue for at least one more week.
Southwest monsoon was officially declared over Mumbai on June 9 by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) this year. Mumbai’s monsoon season lasts between June and September.
From June 1 to July 31, the Santacruz weather station representative of Mumbai and the suburbs recorded 1,931.3mm rain as against annual average rainfall of 2,515mm. The normal rainfall for this period for Santacruz is 1,358.8mm, which means Mumbai recorded an excess of 48% rainfall during June and July. Similarly, Colaba weather station representative of south Mumbai, recorded 1,531.1mm rain from June 1 to July 31 against 1,290.3mm normal for the period, which is an excess of 19%. “The monsoon season has been normal to excess for Maharashtra so far with heavy spells witnessed across the state, especially Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar region between June 9 and July 13. However, over the last two weeks, due to a lack of weather systems in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, rainfall has reduced significantly, drawing a balance this season,” said Ajay Kumar, scientist, IMD Mumbai.
“Weather systems are not likely to be activated for the next seven days, and sporadic spells of light rain are expected for Mumbai till August 7.”
During the first two monsoon months, Maharashtra recorded 13% excess rain with 613.8mm rain in June and July as against 543.8mm normal rainfall for the period. All districts along the Konkan coast recorded excess rain with Thane at 43%, Palghar at 44%, Raigad at 23%, Ratnagiri at 21%, and Sindhudurg at 17%. While central Maharashtra and Vidarbha together recorded an 11% excess, Marathwada was the only sub-division in the state with a 9% deficit in rain. Marathwada recorded 301.3mm rain against 330.5mm normal for the period. Some of the locations that recorded deficient rain were – Nandurbar (-26%), Sangli (-24%), Aurangabad (-30%), Jalna (-29%), Parbhani (-11%), Buldhana (-22%), and Latur (-5%).