Mumbai witnesses wettest July since 1901

PUNE: Mumbai recorded the highest rainfall in its recorded history when Santacruz weather station logged 1,470.4mm rain on Wednesday. This is the wettest July since 1901 when the city rainfall was first recorded.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated pockets in the city and suburbs on Thursday.

The IMD said that after 5.6mm of rain on Wednesday, Santacruz weather station logged 1,470.4mm rainfall for July – 1.9mm more than the previous record of 1468.5mm in July 2014.

On July 20, the city had exceeded the month’s average rainfall of 840mm. Mumbai has already received 91.32% of the seasonal rain. Since June 1, Santacruz observatory has received 1,979.9mm rain as against the average rainfall of 2,168mm that the city receives between June and September.

IMD officials attributed the heavy July downpour to the strong presence of westerlies or upper air circulation over the north Konkan region, which includes Mumbai.

Since June 1, the city has witnessed above-normal rain – 1,918.8mm (an excess of 610mm) and 1,473.8mm (an excess of 245mm) at Santacruz and Colaba weather stations.

Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather at IMD Pune, said, “Maharashtra, specifically Madhya Maharashtra, including Pune and adjoining areas, experienced convergence of the Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon and the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon. The presence of offshore trough also gave a big push.”

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet, described the amount of rain in July as exceptional. “There was a monsoon surge in Mumbai in July driven by successive low pressure air over the Bay of Bengal that strengthened westerly winds from the Arabian Sea over land, upper air cyclonic circulation over south Gujarat, and an offshore trough between south Gujarat and Maharashtra,” he said.