Monsoon could hit city by the weekend: IMD

Due to the lack of showers, temperatures have also remained higher than usual for this time of year. On Thursday, the city’s maximum temperature stood at 34.3 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was 28.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees more than normal

Mumbai: Delayed by 10 days, the southwest monsoon is now expected to descend on the city between June 23-25, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). By June 25, the western branch of the monsoon has usually penetrated well into Gujarat, and officials attributed the sluggish pace of rains to Cyclone Biparjoy, which has sucked out all the available moisture from around the Konkan coast.

Mumbai, India - May 27, 2023: A man shields himself from heat on the seashore, in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

On the other hand, independent experts felt that citizens may have to wait a little longer for the rains, cautioning that this year’s monsoon could be the most delayed in a century.

“The monsoon will reach Mumbai-MMR during 25-26 June. This could break or equal the record of the most delayed arrival of the monsoon in this century, which was set on 25 June 2019. The all-time record of the most delayed arrival (28 June 1974) will remain intact,” said Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science & Dept. of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK.

The inordinate delay shows up in the city’s rainfall deficit. Between June 1-21, the city normally receives about 327.2mm of rain at the IMD’s base weather station in Santacruz, whereas this year it has received just 17.9mm. This is 95% less than normal, and counts as a “large deficit”.

“The reason behind this is pretty straightforward. Cyclone Biparjoy was a very strong system that lasted in the Arabian Sea for a very long time, around nine days. During this period, we were not getting westerly winds over the Konkan, because winds were blowing only around this system, transporting moisture from the land toward the cyclone. Over the last day or so, westerlies have resumed and conditions are looking favourable for monsoon onset to happen in Mumbai over the weekend. But of course, we will have to wait and see,” said Sushma Nair, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Mumbai.

“Meanwhile, the eastern branch of the monsoon has progressed at a faster pace over northeastern states, and then into West Bengal and beyond, because there was no such weather system to stall its progress,” Nair added.