Commuters on a road amid rains, in Bengaluru.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: With just 23.9 mm of rainfall, this September was the second driest-ever for Bengaluru city and the fifth driest since record-keeping began in the late-nineteenth century, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Typically, September is the wettest month of the year for the city with the mean total rainfall of 208.3 mm. It has seen some of the highest monthly precipitation figures. For example, the city received a staggering 516.6 mm of rainfall in September 1986.
The driest-ever September was in 1934 when the IMD's Bengaluru city observatory recorded a mere 8.3 mm of rainfall. The other lows for the month were 18.7 mm (1928), 19.8 mm (1911) and 20.6 mm (1885). In more recent years, September was unusually dry in 2016 (33.2 mm) and 2012 (68.4 mm).
Of the 23.9 mm of rainfall this September, 15.5 mm fell within the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on September 29.
The HAL airport, Bengaluru's second-oldest IMD observatory, received 66.3 mm of rainfall this month, the bulk of it—similar to the city observatory—falling within the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 on September 29.
Overall, however, the southwest monsoon (June-September) was relatively better with Bengaluru city recording 551.1 mm and the HAL airport 470 mm, just close to the normal for the season.
In terms of broader district data, Bengaluru Urban registered 357.2 mm of rainfall, compared to the normal 452.4 mm, while Bengaluru Rural received 420.9 mm, just shy of the usual 432.9 mm.