Cyclone Tauktae impact: Mumbai witnesses highest ever rainfall records for May

What’s unique is that the city experienced such heavy rainfall in May, which is uncommon. (Representational Image)

As the Cyclone Tauktae approached the western shoreline of India, Mumbai witnessed the wettest day ever for the month. This has broken all the previous records of 24-hour rainfall. On May 17, the rainfall observed in SantaCruz was 214 mm in just 12 hours. Previously, the highest rainfall recorded for the one day in the area was 190 mm, which was back in the year 2000, a report by The IE noted. Similarly, Colaba observatory has seen 202mm within 12 hours (from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm) and this too, has broken the existing 24-hour rainfall record which was reported at 190.8mm.

The extremely severe cyclone Tauktae came closest to Mumbai (145km to the west) and brought in a heavy rainfall across the city. The rainfall occurred at a time when the city is at the peak of summer month. On Monday evening, Cyclone Tauktae made landfall in Gujarat. It got close to Mumbai on Monday afternoon and which led to high speed winds of 108km/hr gush across the city.

It is to note that the amount of rainfall may not be much of a concern as Mumbai is used to experiencing heavy rains during monsoon. What’s unique is that the city experienced such heavy rainfall in May, which is uncommon. According to the rainfall record data by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between a decade (2011- 2021), both Colaba and Santacruz observatories have recorded rainfall only once in May only during the year 2017 and the rainfall was recorded at 3mm.

Apart from this, the cyclone also brought showers to Ratnagiri, where 364mm rainfall was recorded within 15 hours between Sunday and Monday. Citing a senior IMD official, the report noted that the cyclone has caused “exceptionally heavy rainfall” and this was not only limited to Maharashtra but also along the west coasts of Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. The cyclone started advancing from Lakshadweep.

Meanwhile, the passing cyclone as well as extreme downpour caused by it resulted in severe water logging. This led to Mumbai authorities closing the airport and suspending local and mono-rail services in Mumbai on a temporary basis.