Explained: Why is raining so much in October despite the monsoon being over

New Delhi, Oct 20: The monsoon is over but it is raining cats and dogs in October. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the southwest monsoon has completely withdrawn from most of north India.

Delhi witnessed its wettest month in October since 1960 and in Uttarakhand nearly 50 people have died due to rain triggered landslides. Kerala too is witnessing torrential rains and the dam gates had to be opened as the water levels were breaching danger marks.

The IMD says that an unusual western disturbance which is a rain system that originates in the Mediterranean region - swept across the northern plans and slammed into the Himalayan ranges. This triggered extremely heavy rain spells often regarded as cloudbursts.

DS Pai, Scientist and head of climate research and services cited by Hindustan Times said that awestern disturbance interacted with the easterlies to cause conditions for extremely heavy rain over Uttarakhand. There was a low-pressure area over Bihar which was bringing in a lot of moisture and the western disturbance helped cloud development and rain.

There is also an impact of climate change. "Climate change has increased moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere all around the world. So of course, climate change has a role to play but also local synoptic features need to be considered," Pai also said.