With 34% more rain, city witnesses earliest monsoon withdrawal in 7 yrs

Historically, the monsoon used to retreat between October 10-15, but the past two decades have seen extremely irregular weather patterns with the earliest monsoon withdrawal on September 30, 2002, and the latest, on October 28, 2020

Mumbai: After a week of relatively clear skies, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday officially announced the monsoon’s withdrawal. As per the IMD, this year’s monsoon began on May 26, its earliest onset since 1950, and ended on October 10, its earliest withdrawal since 2018.

Mumbai, India – 06, Oct 2025: People walk at Marine Drive during sunset, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, Oct 06, 2025. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Historically, the monsoon used to retreat between October 10-15, but the past two decades have seen extremely irregular weather patterns with the earliest monsoon withdrawal on September 30, 2002, and the latest, on October 28, 2020. In 2021, the rains lasted till October 14, and in 2022 and 2023, the monsoon departed only on October 23.

As per data from the weather bureau, this monsoon, on a daily basis Colaba logged less rain than expected, but from June 16-1 and September 24-29 the area saw an excessive amount of rain. Meanwhile, at the Santacruz weather station, rainfall drastically surpassed the average from August to September. This season, the city experienced five episodes of heavy rainfall when weather stations crossed the 100 mm mark.

This monsoon, every month from May to September, logged in more rainfall than the average at both the Colaba and Santacruz weather stations, leading to a surplus of rainfall in the city. While the Santacruz weather station usually sees about 2318.8mm of rain, this year it got 34% more rainfall totalling up to 3112mm. Meanwhile, Colaba logged 8% more rain than its usual average, 2,094 mm compared to the expected 2,263 mm.

Bikram Singh, the newly appointed director of IMD Mumbai , said, “The usual date of monsoon withdrawal in Maharashtra is October 5, so there has been a deviation of one week due to disturbances but it is a common phenomenon. The monsoon will withdraw completely from Maharashtra in the next couple of days.”

Despite the delay, this has been the earliest withdrawal of the monsoon since 2018, when the rains finally left the city on October 6. However, Rajesh Kapadia, author of Vagaries of Weather, a weather blog focusing on the meteorology of India, said “With a little over a week remaining for Diwali, post monsoon showers are expected in the city.”

As the sunny days return, the IMD has forecasted the day time temperature in the city to range from 33°C to 34°C and see a gradual increase. The temperature at night is expected to range between 23 °C to 24°C.