Mumbai:
Rains have set a record with Colaba in Mumbai receiving the highest rainfall in the past 50 years. And there seems to be no sign of the rains abating, according to weather bureau officials.
Colaba, this year, during the months of June, July and August received a whopping 2,896 mm of rainfall. This has been the highest received at the centre since 1983 when the station received 2,679 mm of rainfall. The third highest record was in 1990 -- 2,508 mm.
Incidentally, London that receives a fair bit of rainfall around the year only sees an average of close to 600 mm per year -- lesser than the total rainfall received in August in the city this year.
Furthermore, rainy conditions that have been prevalent in the city are expected to continue over the next 24 hours. "Not only in the city," said V K Rajeev, director at the regional meteorological centre in Colaba and in-charge of forecasts. "There is also heavy rain reported in all of the Konkan region, Goa and parts of Gujarat. Parts of central Maharashtra and Marathwada are also seeing heavy rainfall. We expect intermittent rain over the next 24 hours."
Santacruz was not far behind this year either, missing out on the top spot but coming in second with the highest rainfall recorded ever over the last three months with 2,999 mm. The highest-ever record was in 1958 when the station saw 3,281.7 mm of rainfall.
"There's been an active offshore trough over the Arabian sea that's been giving the region much rainfall over the monsoon months. Apart from Pune that is seeing a deficient rainfall, other parts of the state are seeing normal to excess rainfall," said Rajeev.
August, in particular, has been particularly wet, registering a monthly average around 919 mm of rainfall.
This is higher than last year's records of 290.3 mm that was recorded for August 2009.
However the month's highest average was recorded well back in 1958 when 1,254 mm were recorded.