Mumbai: At 1,248mm, rainfall this August is just a few mm short of 1958 record – Times of India

MUMBAI: With 7.6 mm rain up to 8.30 pm on the last day of the month, the city recorded its highest August rainfall in 62 years. The India Meteorological Department’s Santacruz observatory, representative of the city, recorded a total of 1,248 mm rainfall in the month, only 6.3 mm short of the all-time high of 1,254 mm in 1958. Last August the rain record was 586 mm On Monday, between 8.30am and 8.30pm, Santacruz and Colaba recorded 7.6 mm and 4.6 mm rain rainfall respectively.
The Monday rain took the Colaba observatory’s total for the month to 1,132 mm —the second highest since 1958. In 1983, Colaba observatory recorded 1,188 mm rainfall. With this, the season’s total (since June) for Colaba is 2,887 mm. For Santacruz, the season’s total till Monday evening was 3,145 mm. This year’s monsoon withdrawal date is October 14.
The high August rainfall can be attributed to many heavy rain days in the first and last weeks. The maximum at Santacruz observatory was recorded between August 3 and 4 at 269 mm. At Colaba, it was 332 mm on August 5 and 6. On August 28-29 Colaba and Santacruz recorded 108 and 85.4 mm rainfall in 24 hours.
“Throughout the month there have been very active monsoon conditions over Konkan, including Mumbai. There has also been a development of low pressure systems in the bay and its westward movement over central India has resulted in some days of extremely heavy rainfall this month,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director, western region, IMD.
The Met has forecast light to moderate showers over the city for the next 48 hours. However, gusty winds reaching a speed of 45-55 kmph can be expected as well. A green alert – light to moderate rain – has been issued for Mumbai and Thane for up to Friday.