Fortnight still left in monsoon, Konkan surpasses annual rainfall

A submerged subway near the Armed Forces Hospital on PCB-Kondhwa Road, on Wednesday. (Photo by Arul Horizon)

Konkan along with places in Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada sub-divisions have recorded more than their average annual rainfall, since the commencement of ongoing monsoon in June.

Mumbai, Pune, Ratnagiri, Nashik, Aurangabad, Osmanabad, Jalgaon, Nagpur and Amravati are among the cities to have recorded more than their annual quota of rainfall (See Box).

This, even as a fortnight of the ongoing Southwest monsoon season remains to unfold. Normally, Maharashtra does not receive much rain during winter months.

Surprisingly, hill station Mahabaleshwar, which has recorded 5,000 mm rainfall so far, is short of recording seasonal normal rain this year. Brahmapuri and Nanded, too, are yet to record the season’s normal rainfall.

Since Tuesday, heavy rain battered Mumbai and rainfall recorded at some stations here ranged between 200 and 300 mm within 24 hours, making it yet another extremely wet September day. However, Mumbai has recorded similar heavy spells during this month, rainfall data maintained by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated. In 2017 and 2019, the city had recorded extremely heavy spells, when the 24-hour rainfall was recorded at 303 mm and 242 mm.

Even though the season has been good for the state as a whole, it has been a particularly prolonged wet season for Konkan and Marathwada.

Monsoon remained active in July and these two sub-divisions experienced continuous rainfall. But it was the consecutive formation of low pressure systems, their movements along the central India region supported by other atmospheric features, that continued to push the state’s seasonal rainfall upwards even during August.

From remaining 2 per cent above normal in July, Konkan’s seasonal rain jumped to 25 per cent at the end of August. Likewise, Marathwada has also experienced above normal rainfall during the last three months including June (57 per cent), July (42 per cent) and August (28 per cent) above normal. Over Madhya Maharashtra, the monthly rainfall stood at June (48 per cent), July (11 per cent) and August (31 per cent) above normal.

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