Amidst all the glamour and charm exuded by India's financial capital Mumbai, are we ignoring the extreme weather events experienced by the city this year?
After recording all-time highest rain of 1461 mm for the month of July, the city recorded unusually high temperatures in June, September, October and November, this year. Such extreme weather events compel one to think if reckless development, urbanisation and climate change making Mumbai vulnerable.
The following highlights of this year would clearly substantiate our point that Mumbai witnessed extreme weather events in the year 2014.
June
The lowest amount of rain that the city received in the month of June in last one decade was 216 mm, observed in drought year of 2009. This year, Mumbai did beat its earlier record and observed an abysmal 88 mm of rain in the month of June, against the monthly average of 523 mm.
Day temperatures have also touched 38°C on a couple of occasions, which is the highest ever recorded. Minimums that usually drop to settle in the lower twenties, jumped to the highest ever of 30.2°C.
July
In the month of July, the city of dreams surpassed the earlier record of 1455.5 mm of rain in July, 1965 and recorded the all-time highest rain of 1461 mm for the month of July.
September
The city recorded 37°C as the maximum on September 29, breaking the all-time high of 36.4°C recorded on September 23, 1972.
October
The spree of record breaking temperature continued and on October 16, Mumbai recorded maximum temperature of 37°C, which is highest in last six years during October.
November
Mumbai recorded 37°C as the maximum temperature on November 3, making it the highest day temperature observed in last 10 years during the month. Moreover, it was also the third hottest November day since 1951, as the all-time record for the month is 37.4°C, recorded on the 4th of November, 1979 and 2003.
This year Mumbai has already received 2329 mm of rain, against the annual average of 2258 mm. The city also seems to be warmer than average. The average maximum temperature of 2014 is 32.4°C, which is higher than the normal average of 31.8°C. Similarly, even the minimum average of this year, 23.6°C, is higher than the annual average of 22.4°C.
There are years when extreme weather conditions are witnessed, therefore the situation is not alarming but definitely needs special attention.
