PUNE The southwest monsoon officially ended, despite the India Meteorological Department (IMD) still tracking a delayed withdrawal.
Between June 1 and September 30, 2019, the city recorded 1071.9 mm of rain, its third-highest of all time, since IMD began recording the same.
Historically, Pune city recorded its highest monsoon in 2005 with 1,163.3 mm of rain, followed by the 2006 monsoon which has 1,103.8 mm of rainfall.
Despite a 15-day delay to the monsoon onset in 2019, Pune still witnessed 321.9 mm of rain, more than its seasonal average of 750 mm.
“This year, because of the presence of either strong westerlies or upper air circulation over the north Konkan, Pune recorded surplus monsoon rainfall. As a result of the convergence of the Arabian sea branch of the monsoon and the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon, and also the presence of the offshore trough, there were heavy downpours over central Maharashtra,” an IMD release stated.
Central Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Konkan all recorded 55%, 12% and 32% excess rain this season, respectively. Marathwada is the only subdivision that recorded 12% deficient rainfall. The IMD forecast that the withdrawal in northwest India will start in the next four days.