Mumbai Rain Breaks 107-Year Record, Marks Earliest Monsoon in 75 Years

Mumbai Rain: Maharashtra's commercial capital, Mumbai experienced torrential rain Monday, as the Indian Meteorological Department reported that, on the first day of monsoon, the city experienced its highest rainfall in 107 years. Mumbai was one of the first cities to begin receiving monsoon rains 16 days early. Despite being under water and dealing with all of the other headaches that heavy rain causes, Mumbai broke the record for rainfall established in 1918.

"Southwest Monsoon has advanced to Mumbai today, 26th May 2025, against the normal date of advancement, 11th June. Thus, the monsoon has arrived in Mumbai 16 days earlier than usual. This marks the earliest monsoon advancement over Mumbai during the period 2001–2025," read an official statement issued by the IMD.

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Mumbai rains break 107-year-old record

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reported that, between 12:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Monday, many areas in south Mumbai reported rainfall in excess of 200 mm.

Colaba, a suburb of South Mumbai, reported the highest rainfall at 295 mm, beating the previous record of 279.4 mm set in May 1918. According to a PTI report, IMD data indicated that between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Monday.

Rainfall amounts measured in Mumbai were Colaba 105.2 millimetres, Santacruz 55 mm, Bandra 68.5 mm, Juhu Airport 63.5 mm, Chembur 38.5 mm, Vikhroli 37.5 mm, Mahalaxmi 33.5 mm, and Sion 53.5 mm.

Earliest monsoon in 75 years

Additionally, in May Mumbai experiences the earliest monsoon in 75 years. IMD data indicates that the average date for the onset of the monsoon season is June 11, while in 2024 the southwest monsoon began on June 6.

"Southwest monsoon made its onset over Mumbai on May 26. This is the earliest onset in the last 75 years,"India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist Sushma Nair told news agency PTI.

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However, with a red alert for the area, the weather department has formally declared the arrival of the southwest monsoon 16 days earlier than normal.

On Monday, the IMD changed its alert regarding northern Maharashtra from an 'orange' alert and updated the alert rating to a red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts. In addition to indicating an alert for Mumbai, the IMD also issued alerts for Karnataka, Kerala, and portions of Tamil Nadu.

“Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Karnataka including Bengaluru, , remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, some more parts of westcentral & North Bay of Bengal, Remaining parts of Mizoram, entire Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, some parts of Assam and Meghalaya, on May 26,” said IMD.

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