Neha Madaan | TNN
PUNE: Drought-prone Parbhani in Marathwada recorded 190mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, breaking a century-old rain record and crossing its monthly rainfall quota for June in just one day to become the wettest spot in the country on Thursday.
It was in June 1914 when Parbhani had recorded more rain than this — 401.3mm rain in a 24-hour period. Thursday’s rain for the location became the highest one-day quantum in over a century.
Triple-digit rain for Parbhani is a rare phenomenon, revealed India Meteorological Data (IMD) data. In the last decade, the highest 24-hour rainfall for Parbhani in June was 73mm in 2007.
Pulak Guhathakurta, head, climate application and user interface, climate research and services, IMD, Pune, told TOI, “Rainfall records show that between 1915 and 1991, Parbhani did not receive triple-digit rain during a 24-hour period even once in June.”
He said, “After 1991, Parbhani saw some instances of triple-digit rainfall in a day in June. But the rainfall was lower than that recorded on Thursday morning. For instance, during one of the days in June 1992, Parbhani had recorded 176.1mm rain. The district had in June 1991 recorded 130.4mm rain during a 24-hour period as well.”
Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather, IMD, Pune, said though the monsoon did not make an entry into Parbhani on Thursday, it received triple-digit rain due to the sheer amount of moisture available over parts of Maharashtra.
“The Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon is strengthening, while there is a low pressure area over west-central and the adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts. This means that moisture has been flowing from two directions — from the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal,” he said.
“Add to this the high temperature over Marathwada since the last few days as well as the orography of the region. The current situation is a perfect recipe for intense thundershowers caused by the increase in temperatures and the copious moisture availability,” Kashyapi said.
What Parbhani experienced during the 24 hours till Thursday morning was still a result of pre-monsoon activity, though the monsoon is very close to making an advance over the location.
“The rainfall was also a result of the pressure gradient force acting from South to North off Maharashtra coast and the adjoining land area of Konkan. It is this kind of pressure gradient force that had also resulted in heavy rainfall events in parts of Maharashtra during the 2019 monsoon. The orography of Marathwada, including the lack of vegetation, soil type and the lack of water bodies can cause high temperatures. When such high temperatures combine with huge amounts of moisture, heavy rainfall events could be a result,” Kashyapi said.