Rainfall in October highest in the month in last 120 years: IMD

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 7: In the last 120 years, the month of October has received heavy rainfall -- as it did this year -- on three other occasions, the weather department has said and added that the downpour in 2021 was the highest since then.

According to data released by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Kerala received 589.9 mm rainfall in October this year, the highest since the year 1901 and more than double what the state got last year during this month.

The heavy rainfall in October this year was due to remnants of the south west monsoon which were prevalent till October 25, after which the north-east monsoons commenced, P S Biju, a Director in IMD, told PTI.

He also said that in June-July this year, the rainfall the state received as part of the monsoon was deficient and the quantity became normal only after the excess precipitation received in August-September. Prior to 2021, the state received more than 500 mm rainfall in October of 1932 (543.2 mm), 1999 (567.9 mm) and 2002 (511.7 mm), the IMD has said.

The lowest amount of rainfall the state received during this month in the last 120 years was in 1989 when it got less than 100 mm precipitation, according to the IMD data. Mostly the state has received between 200 mm to 400 mm rainfall during this month in the last 12 decades, the IMD data has said.