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At 646 mm, Jor village records higher rainfall than Mahabaleshwar
Located at least eight kilometres from Mahabaleshwar Jor recorded 646 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending Friday morning, according to Mahavedh, a public-private partnership project which measures rain at the village
Jor village, located at least eight kilometres from Mahabaleshwar recorded 646 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending Friday morning, according to Mahavedh, a public-private partnership (PPP) project which measures rain at Jor.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) does not have an observatory at Jor village to measure rainfall.
The rainfall was higher than that in Mahabaleshwar, a famous hill station in Satara district, which recorded 594.04 mm rainfall during the last 24 hours, creating a new record. In 48 hours, the hill station recorded a whopping 1,074.4 mm rainfall, according to IMD.
“This is the highest 24 hours rain ever recorded in Mahabaleshwar’s history. In the last 48 hours Mahabaleshwar reported a whopping 1,074.4 mm rainfall, which is also very high,” said Vineet Kumar, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
Heavy rains in the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani belt of western ghat has mostly contributed to the flood situation in neighbouring Ratnagiri and Raigad districts as rivers such as Vashisthi and Savitri originate in the same area.
Similarly, heavy rain in the Koyna dam catchment area near Mahabaleshwar has increased water levels of the Koyna and Krishna rivers, inundating many areas in Sangli and Kolhapur.
According to IMD officials, active offshore troughs and strong westerly surges were the main factors that led to intense rainfall in the hill stations. The hill station, every year, receives extremely heavy rain. Wherein the average July rainfall is 3,182 mm. July and August are the wettest months in Mahabaleshwar during the monsoon season with a total average of 5,530 mm rainfall. Annually, the hill station records an average of 5,710 mm of rain.
The hill station is located at 1,439 m above mean sea level in the Western Ghat which makes it ideal for high-intensity rainfall. The strong westerly winds and the shear zone running through Maharashtra make Mahabaleshwar most favourable for very heavy spells along the hilly terrains.
Meanwhile, Kolhapur district recorded 147 mm rain which is the highest rainfall recorded in 24 hours in July during the last ten years, IMD stated.
The IMD stated that very intense clouds were observed over parts of Raigad district and adjoining areas of Roha, Bhira, Matheran Shrivardhan, Thane district, Kalyan, Ratnagiri district, Dapoli, Harnai, Chiplun, Satara and Pune Ghat areas.
Latest radar observations from Goa radar indicates moderate to intense clouds over areas including Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, parts of south Konkan too including Goa.
