#WeatherSays | 15 Years On, July 26 Still Evokes Horrors of #Monsoon Fury for Mumbai
weather.com/en-IN/india/mo…
#Monsoon2020 #MumbaiRains
(📸: Palashranjan Bhaumik / TOI, BCCL, MUMBAI)
By @deekshith_np
The average monsoon rainfall across India over the four months from June 1 to September 30 is 880.6 mm. On July 26, 2005, Mumbai received more than 900 mm rainfall within a few hours!
The fury of monsoon was so intense that the financial capital was slammed with more rains on a single day than what several parts of the country received in an entire year.
(📸: Palashranjan Bhaumik / TOI, BCCL, MUMBAI)
The resultant floods killed over 1000 people, and the whole city came to a standstill.
Today, after one and a half decades later, the episode continues to remind the horrors of extreme weather events, as similar extremes threaten many parts of India.
This year alone, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, West Bengal and parts of Uttar Pradesh have witnessed devastating floods, while we are not even half-way through the monsoon season yet.
(📸: Pal Pillai/ MM, BCCL, MUMBAI)
Experts say the processes that led to the torrential downpour on July 26, 2005, are fairly common during every monsoon season.
A few days before July 26, 2005, a low-pressure area started to develop and it intensified into a well-marked low just before the D-day.
The resultant westerly winds brought in a lot of moisture from the Arabian sea and the local convergence led to the formation of thick clouds. The system was active for almost 6-8 hours, causing intense rainfall for a sustained period.
Mumbai does witness one or two spells of extremely heavy rainfall of over 200 mm every monsoon season. However, what transpired in 2005 was an unfortunate blend of unfavourable weather systems within a short time.
(📸: Deepak Salvi / Mumbai Mirror / BCCL)
The technology of weather forecasting has improved substantially since 2005. However, despite all the super-computing abilities and enhanced knowledge, we still struggle to accurately predict such heavy rainfall episodes over a particular locality in time.
If there is one thing to be learnt from the 2005 floods, it is that the most resilient city is the one that is always prepared to face the worst possible hazard.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.