Symptoms thunder but monsoon takes its time to withdraw from Mumbai

Mumbai witnessed unusual rainfall this month. The withdrawal of the monsoon was interrupted and southwest monsoon features reappeared. This was seen in recent heavy rainfall, similar to the start this year’s monsoon got.

Monsoon withdrawal is signified by hot days and thunderstorms at night. And the city saw some of that in thepast two weeks. The thunderstorms stopped around the week of last week.

“This was due to the formation of a low-pressure area on the east coast and the reappearance of an offshore trough along the west coast. This is very unusual during withdrawal. This is the first time that I have seen something like this. Normally the monsoon withdraws from the north to the south and rainfall is not very heavy during this period,” said VK Rajiv, director of the regional meteorological department.

Monsoon withdrawal is the slow retreat of rain clouds, marking the end of the wet season, which usually starts on September 1 in India. This year though, it sparked off onSeptember 9 and after passing parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat will touch Mumbai.

“The normal date of withdrawal for Mumbai is September 20 and it is already the 24th. South Gujarat is almost inundated with rainwater,” says Rajiv. Also, the break-monsoon period, during which a lull in rainfall takes place mid-monsoon, lasted almost a month this year as opposed to afew days to a week.

Meteorologists of the Regional Meteorological Centre expect this situation to dissipate within three to five days.