Mumbai: Monsoon arrives nearly 3 weeks earlier, sets new record
What's the story
The southwest monsoon has hit Mumbai today, marking an unprecedented early arrival.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also confirmed the monsoon's arrival in the city, 17 days ahead of its usual date of June 11.
This is the earliest recorded onset of monsoon since IMD started keeping records in 1951.
Impact on city
Rainfall causes waterlogging, train delays
The heavy rains that started yesterday night continued into today, causing waterlogging in several areas like Hindmata, JJ Junction, and Dadar TT.
Local trains on the Central and Harbour lines were delayed by around 10 minutes during peak hours due to poor visibility caused by the downpour.
Central Railway officials clarified there was no waterlogging during morning hours but trains were delayed due to weather conditions.
Statewide impact
Monsoon's early arrival in Maharashtra
The southwest monsoon reached Maharashtra nearly 10 days early, making it the earliest since 1990.
The weather system responsible for this is a depression over Madhya Maharashtra that weakened into a low-pressure area over south Madhya Maharashtra, and parts of Marathwada and North Interior Karnataka.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai and nearby areas like Thane and Palghar, due to heavy rainfall likely to continue at least until May 28.
Rainfall records
Unusually high rainfall recorded in Mumbai
Mumbai has witnessed unusually high rainfall for May, with Colaba station recording 159mm and Santacruz station recording 164mm. This is over 700% above the average.
If this trend continues, May could become one of the wettest months in recent history for Mumbai.
The record wettest May was in 2000 when Santacruz recorded 388mm of rain.