Maharashtra gets 529 mm (20.8 inches) of rain, shatters 58-year record

The city of Dahanu in Maharashtra, a state spanning west-central India, received a record-breaking rain on September 21, 2016, shattering city’s 58-year record by a long way.

In a 24-hour period ending 08:00 local time on Wednesday, September 21, Dahanu received a whopping 529 mm (20.8 inches) of rain. Its previous record for September was 481 mm (18.9 inches). Since the onset of monsoon this year, Dahanu has received 3 700 mm (145.6 inches) of rain, an excess of 1 883 mm (74.1 inches).

According to the IMD, the reason for this week’s vigorous rain was weather systems active over both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

The Times of India said the downpour hit normal life in Dahanu as houses, roads and railway tracks got flooded and power and phone lines snapped. Schools and colleges declared a holiday. Power was restored by Wednesday evening.

72 hours of rainfall accumulation ending 00:00 UTC on September 23, 2016 – central India. Credit: NASA/TRMM

During the same period, state capital Mumbai received 142.6 mm (5.6 inches) of rain, which is the highest rainfall recorded in the city in a single day in September since 2012. It was also the second highest rainfall record since 2010.

As most of India, Mumbai too has experienced an above-average monsoon this year. Since June 1, IMD’s Colaba and Santacruz stations recorded 2 133 mm (83.4 inches) and 2 647 mm (104.6 inches), respectively.  In 2015, Colaba recorded 1 604.8 mm (63.1 inches), a shortfall of 448.3 mm (17.84 inches), and Santacruz 1 823.2 mm (71.8 inches), a shortfall of 408.4 mm (19.6 inches).

IMD’s deputy director-general for country’s western region, K.S. Hosalikar said that the overall monsoon this year has been good in Maharashtra. “There is also another low pressure area forming over the coast of Andhra and moving in the northwest direction. This is expected to give good rains to areas of Vidarbha and Marathwada. The monsoon current is extremely active with there being over five weather systems active over the entire country.”

On Tuesday, September 20, India’s youngest state – Telangana – broke its 16-year rainfall record when its capital Hyderabad received 167 mm (6.57 inches) of rain in a 24-hour period. Rains started around 22:00 local time and increased around midnight. Within just two hours, the city was flooded and roads turned into rivers. Heavy rains also caused lakes to breach and flood Quthbullapur and surrounding areas. 

Earlier this year, Telangana experienced its worst drought in living memory.

Featured image credit: NASA/NOAA/DoD Suomi NPP/VIIRS, Google. Acquired: September 21, 2016.

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