Driest monsoon in Mumbai in years despite bountiful September

New Delhi, In spite of witnessing the second highest wettest September in years, monsoon 2012 has been driest in a long time over the commercial capital. The poor rainfall during June, July and mid-August ensured that Mumbai will not be able to make up for the annual rainfall deficit. For example, the rainfall at the Colaba observatory stands fifth lowest in 50 years and at the Santa Cruz observatory, it is among the tenth lowest in five decades. The Colaba observatory recorded 33% rain deficit compared to the annual average rainfall while Santa Cruz remained deficient by 13%.

Throughout June, Colaba observatory recorded a merge 255 mm of rain while Santa Cruz registered 312 mm. During July, Colaba again recorded 325 mm of rain and Santa Cruz got 620 mm. The increased rainfall activities during the last week in the month August took the monthly rainfall tally to 605.2 mm at Colaba and 371.6 mm at Santa Cruz. The month of September was a lot better, owing to good showers in the first half. Colaba received 319.4mm and Santa Cruz 551.7mm as of September 28.

The monsoon withdraws from Mumbai by September 30, but the current conditions suggest that it may take up to the first week of October to withdraw from Konkan area. However, it will not make any difference as the data collected between June to September counts as the annual monsoon figure.