Explained: What led to heavy rains and what is in store for Maharashtra

With heavy rains being reported since mid-week, the overall seasonal rainfall has improved and the state’s rainfall deficiency has now been reduced to 3 per cent below normal from 9 per cent that was reported earlier this week.

maharashtra rain, rain in maharashtra, pune rain, mumbai rain, monsoon maharashtra monsoon, southwest monsoon, rainfall, heavy rainfall, maharashtra news, indian express news

The monsoon has once again shifted southwards.

What has caused such intense rainfall?

A little after the first week of July, the Southwest monsoon had shifted to the Himalayan foothills and had remained active over the east and northeast parts of India until recently. During this period, most regions in west and central India experienced very little or no rainfall activity. However, earlier this week, the monsoon once again shifted southwards and over the period, got active along the west coast and central India. Besides, meteorologists suggest that for the first time this season, the atmospheric conditions set up both in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are in tandem with each other. The atmospheric conditions are highly conducive for the enhancement of rainfall over the country over the next few days, said A K Srivastava, head, climate research division at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. As a result, there has been strong westerly winds blowing in from the Arabian Sea carrying along significant moisture content. This led to such heavy precipitation mainly along the west coast including parts of Konkan and Goa and adjoining Madhya Maharashtra since July 24. Since then, the rainfall recorded in some stations, for instance Mumbai, has been close to 170mm within 24 hours.

Has Maharashtra’s seasonal rainfall situation improved?

With heavy rains being reported since mid-week, the overall seasonal rainfall has improved and the state’s rainfall deficiency has now been reduced to 3 per cent below normal from 9 per cent that was reported earlier this week. As on July 26, the rainfall recorded in the state stood at 479.3 mm against a normal of 493.2 mm for this time of the season. Konkan and Goa (22 per cent) subdivision has entered the rainfall excess category whereas Madhya Maharashtra (15 per cent) continues to remain under normal rainfall category. The situation of Marathwada (-32 per cent) and Vidarbha (-36 per cent), have, however, not improved.

How do districts in Maharashtra fare?

Pune city recorded its heaviest July day on July 26 since 2014, as the rainfall recorded was 78 mm within 24 hours till 8.30 am on Saturday. The last time when Pune experienced such heavy rains was in July 2014 (84.3 mm). Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm on Saturday, Pune recorded 27 mm rain. With this, the seasonal rainfall for the city has now touched 491.9 mm, with a surplus of 194.8 mm. Similarly, Satara too was drenched after recording rainfall measuring 68.7 mm on the day, first time since 2010. Many cities in Maharashtra, including Mahabaleshwar, Mumbai and Kolhapur, experienced similar heavy spells for the first time this season. However, the season by far has not brought much to cheer for districts in Marathwada and Vidarbha, which are yet to receive normal rainfall for this season and has left them deficient.

What do forecasts suggest?

With a fresh low pressure system expected to form over the Bay of Bengal, off Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coast around July 31, the rains are here to stay.

As this system moves landwards and crosses central India, it is expected to cause widespread rainfall over Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra before it moves northwards resulting in enhanced rains over entire northern regions of the country. IMD has warned of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra till July 29 and moderate showers till the end of this month. Vidarbha

too has been put on high alert on July 29 and rainfall intensity thereafter shall see slight fall in the intensity.