Maharashtra: 594.4mm rain for already soaked Mahabaleshwar

PUNE: Two weather systems, one along the west coast of India and the other in the Bay of Bengal, have brought unprecedented rain to Maharashtra in the last two days, triggering landslides and flooding.
An already rain-soaked Mahabaleshwar in Satara district broke records since 1901 when it received 594.4mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30am on Friday. It is the highest rainfall so far not only for July but also for any month for the hill station. It had received 480mm of rain till 8.30am on Thursday.

Poladpur weather station in Raigad district recorded 305mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30am on Friday, the third-highest 24-hour rainfall for July since 1901. Vaibhawadi and Dodamarg in Sindhudurg district recorded the fourth-highest 24-hour spells in 120 years on Friday.
Pulak Guhathakurta, head of the climate research division in India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, told TOI that rainfall over the last two days in Mahabaleshwar was unique for 24-hour.
“On July 22, the hill station recorded 480mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30am on Thursday. The previous highest 24-hour July rainfall in Mahabaleshwar was 439.8mm, recorded on July 7, 1977. The next two highest July precipitations were 432.9mm on July 26, 2005 and 432 mm on July 31, 2014,” he added.
All four rivers that originate in this scenic town in the Western Ghats___Srishna, Koyna, Venna and Savitri__are in spate, flooding the districts they flow through.
The inundation, landslides and devastation over the past two days is unlike that of 2019, when large amounts of water was discharged from the dams. Incessant and heavy rain in Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Ratnagiri and Raigad districts have caused havoc now,” he added.
As the aerial distance between Mahabaleshwar and Mahad in Raigad district as well as in Navaja in Satara district and Chiplun is not much, heavy rainfall brings water gushing into these towns.
Ratnagiri’s guardian minister Uday Samant said Navaja had received 726mm rainfall while Chiplun had received 600mm of rain on Friday. “In Chiplun, we have to count the actual rainfall here and the torrents that flow down the hills and bring water to the town. Even now, the rivers in the district __Jagbudi, Vashishti, Kajali, Shastri, Kushkundi__ are flowing above the warning level. Till 2am on Friday morning, we did not know what the next day will bring. The water has receded now and people are able to step out of their houses in some parts. However, the IMD has issued a warning for the next three days and we have to stay alert," he said.
Poladpur weather station in Raigad district recorded 305mm rainfall till Friday morning, the third highest 24-hour rainfall for July in 120 years. It rained 589mm on July 26, 2005 and 378mm on July 28, 1991.
Guhathakurta said since July 18, Mahabaleshwar has received heavy to extremely heavy rainfall for all six consecutive days.
“The strong off-shore trough from Maharashtra coast to north Kerala coast along with a well- marked low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal off north Odisha-West Bengal coasts have caused such spells over the state. Whenever these two systems exist together, rain intensity and spread increases,” he added.
Meteorological sub-divisions of Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada received excess rainfall from June 1 to July 23 with Mumbai suburbs, Ratnagiri, Beed, Jalna and Parbhani recording a large excess.