This year has seen the longest monsoon in over 50 years. The rainy season that usually withdraws from the city in the first week of October is still persisting this year, a week after the stipulated date.

For the last couple of says, Mumbai has seen dark skies and heavy showers, catching most citizens by surprise. “I got completely drenched the other day. The rains have been very inconsistent this year. The continuous and extreme change in weather has left a lot of my colleagues sick,” said Vasundhara Singh, a resident of Andheri. The monsoon withdrawal in the city is characterised by hot and humid weather in the day and thunderstorms at night.

According to the usual trend, rainfall in our country is measured in the months between June and September which constitutes the monsoon. The precipitation after this period is categorised under post-monsoon rain.

However, this year owing to the delay, the rainfall we are experiencing is part of the actual monsoon.

Last month, the regular withdrawal of the monsoon was stalled and the city experienced recurrent rains similar to that of the southwest monsoon features. This created conditions similar to the beginning of the monsoons with heavy rainfall in the day.Sources say, the withdrawal of the monsoon is further delayed due to cyclone Phailin that hit the east coast of India on Saturday. VK Rajiv, director of the Regional Meteorological Department said, “There was an offshore trough, along with strong westerlies winds. This is what caused heavy rainfall over the Konkan region and Gujarat last month.”

Currently, the withdrawal of the monsoon has halted. “Five days after the cyclone passes, the monsoon will revert to the usual withdrawal pattern once more. It will take around 10 days for the monsoon to end,” said Rajiv.

The India Meteorological Department is conducting research regarding the unconventional weather patterns. They will present a report on the reasons for the same in the coming months.