After recording a rain deficit of 35 per cent in June, the month started on a bleak note for Mumbai with only intermittent spells of rain sweeping its pockets in the first week.

However, following the surprise episode of intense showers between July 7 and 8 when several areas of Mumbai recorded over 300 mm rain, rain activity gathered pace in the region.

Heavy showers continued unabated until the last week of July, when rainfall subdued, with the city recording over 100 mm rain on at least nine days of the month.

In light of the spells, the Santacruz observatory in the suburbs has recorded 2,053 mm rain since the onset of monsoon, which is 89 per cent of the city’s annual average monsoon quota.

Mumbai receives an annual average of 2,319 mm rain spanning four monsoon months, of which the maximum showers sweep in the month of July.

Having logged over 1,706 mm rain in July alone, the station has also surpassed its monthly average rain for July — which stands at 855 mm — by over 50 per cent. This is Santacruz’s second wettest July in a decade. Before this, the city had received 1,771 mm rain in 2023, which is the station’s wettest July in a decade.

Besides this, at 1,402 mm in July, this year, Colaba has recorded its wettest July in decade since July 2014 when the station had received 1,356 mm rain.

Data furnished by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) also shows that the entire Maharashtra — barring Hingoli — has received an excess of rainfall between June and July, ushering in respite for the state which had logged a rain deficit in June.

Mumbai had logged only 347 mm rain in June despite an early onset, resulting in a 35 per cent deficit from its typical average of 537 mm rainfall.

Quashing civic concerns pertaining to the lake levels, the lake stock — which had dipped to 5 percent in early June — have also replenished over the past month. On Wednesday month, the total stock in the seven lakes catering to Mumbai’s water needs touched 77.31 percent, which is nearly 11.17 lakh million litres. Last year, on the same day, the lake levels had touched 76 percent while in 2023, the stock soared to 88 percent of the total capacity.

Meanwhile, after a month of heavy downpour, Mumbai received only light spells of rain in the last week of July.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the IMD’S Colaba observatory recorded 15 mm rain while the Santacruz station recorded 12 mm.

According to the weather bureau, the intensity of showers is slated to pick up from August 1 (today), with the IMD issuing a yellow alert stating the possibility of heavy rainfall in isolated pockets of Mumbai.