Good monsoon for city, state this year, says IMD

2013 AVG RAINFALL

MUMBAI: It has been a “good” monsoon for the city and the state this year, with the season officially drawn to a close.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between June 1 and September 30, the city recorded 11% more rainfall than normal, while the suburbs received 14% above normal rainfall – that’s 2,370mm and 2,432mm rainfall respectively as against the normal figure of 2,142.4mm.

The state received 28% more than normal rainfall this year with 1,291.5mm rain as against the normal value of 1,007.3 over the three monsoon months.

“After deficient rainfall

last year, the state has experienced a good monsoon this year, better than normal,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD.

Prior to the monsoon season, the long range forecasting division at IMD Pune had optimistically predicted an above average monsoon.

This year, the monsoon set in before the scheduled date of June 10. The early start was coupled with heavy downpour, not usual for the first two months of the season. “The city had more than normal rain in June and July. August was subdued, and the monsoon again picked up after September 9. The rain in June and July helped the city finally score positively,” added Hosalikar.

The monsoon is however yet to begin withdrawing from Maharashtra – it starts with north Maharashtra normally on October 1. But the monsoon systems in Gujarat last week delayed the process and the city witnessed rain.