Mumbai braces for record early onset as monsoon hits Maharashtra in earliest arrival in 35 years

Mumbai rain

The southwest monsoon has reached Maharashtra nearly ten days earlier than usual, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Sunday.

This marks the earliest arrival of the monsoon in the state since 1990, when it had come on May 20. Typically, the monsoon hits Maharashtra around June 5, The Indian Express reported.

According to the weather department, this is the third earliest monsoon onset in Maharashtra in over 60 years, since 1960. The early arrival was first seen in Kerala on Saturday, after which the monsoon moved further north and west. It has now covered all of Goa, parts of Karnataka, and reached parts of Maharashtra. In the northeast, monsoon winds have also entered Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland.

IMD Mumbai director Shubhangi Bhute said Mumbai may see the monsoon arrive in the next three days. If that happens, it would be the earliest ever monsoon onset recorded in the city. The previous earliest date was May 29, recorded in 1956, 1962, and 1971. Normally, the monsoon reaches Mumbai around June 11.

According to a report by TOI, the system bringing rain to the state is a depression over Madhya Maharashtra, which weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area and was located over south Madhya Maharashtra and nearby parts of Marathwada and North Interior Karnataka as of 8.30 am on May 25. It is expected to move slowly eastward over the next 24 hours and weaken further.

Alluding to the early onset of monsoon in Mumbai over the next three days, the IMD on Sunday added, “Conditions are favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Karnataka, some parts of Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some more parts of west central & north Bay of Bengal and some more parts of Northeastern states during next 3 days.”

This early arrival of the monsoon comes at a time when Mumbai has already been seeing unusually high rainfall for May. Rainfall this month is more than 700 per cent above the normal average. So far, Mumbai’s Colaba station has recorded 159 mm of rain, while the Santacruz station has seen 164 mm. The last time May was this wet was in 2021, when the city saw 256 mm of rain. If this trend continues, this May could become one of the rainiest in Mumbai's recent history. The record for the wettest May in Mumbai is from 2000, when Santacruz recorded 388 mm of rain.

Not just Mumbai, but several parts of Maharashtra are witnessing unusual rain patterns. For example, Buldhana district has seen over 4,000 per cent more rain than its usual average for May. Coastal districts like Sindhudurg and Raigad have also reported a surplus of more than 2,000 per cent, The Indian Express reported.

Due to this early monsoon activity, the IMD has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai and nearby areas like Thane and Palghar, warning of heavy rainfall likely to continue at least until May 28.