At 594 mm, Mahabaleshwar gets more rain in one day than annual rainfall of some districts

Hill station receives 1258 mm of rain since Wednesday, setting record for highest one-day rain

Mahabaleshwar experienced its wettest ever day on Friday. The 24-hour rainfall, ending at 8.30 am on Friday, was 594 mm.

To put the figure in better perspective, this was close to the annual rainfall of some districts of Maharashtra: Ahmednagar – 591 mm, Solapur – 601 mm, Dhule – 623 mm and Sangli – 624 mm.

Friday was the second consecutive day when such extremely heavy rain was reported in this town of Satara district. Since Wednesday, Mahabaleshwar has received 1258 mm of rain. On Friday, the rainfall recorded between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm was 180 mm.

“The presence of an off-shore trough running between Gujarat and Kerala is aiding strong and moisture-laden westerly winds to blow from the Arabian Sea onto the land. Ghat areas have particularly recorded extremely heavy spells this week,” said an official from the India Meteorological Department.

In the last 10 days, Mahabaleshwar has received 2066.6 mm — 40 per cent of the total July rain quota — the IMD rainfall data stated.

Between 2000 and 2021, on seven occasions, extreme heavy rainfall events — more than 400 mm in 24 hours — were reported either in July or August. Even though these are high rainfall receiving area, with June and September average of 5130 mm, this trend of intense spells within a short duration is on a rise.

The IMD has maintained its ‘Orange’ alert (keep a watch) for the Ghat areas of Pune, Satara (including Mahabaleshwar) and Kolhapur, where heavy to very heavy rain is likely to continue for the next three days.

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