Mumbai and its neighbouring districts have woken up to overcast skies and moderate rainfall in the past few days. And according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai, Thane and Raigad will continue to witness light rainfall and cloudy skies until August 21.

The slowdown in rain intensity comes on the heels of the El Niño system, which intensified in July. The climate pattern, which weakens monsoon rains in India, is likely to get stronger in the coming months.

There are no fresh IMD alerts for the region. But since rain has continued to lash Mumbai and the neighbouring districts, data furnished by the IMD showed that between Sunday and Monday morning, its Santacruz station received 5.8 mm rain and the Colaba station recorded 1.6 mm rain.

During this period, the wettest spells – at an average of 8.18 mm rain – were recorded in the eastern suburbs, followed by an average of 5 mm rain in the western suburbs and 1.5 mm rain in the island city division.

Mumbai has not received heavy rainfall in August. According to the IMD data, the city’s Santacruz station has recorded only 255 mm of rain until August 17. This accounts for 45 percent of Mumbai’s average rainfall of 560.8 mm in the month.

El Niño system to get stronger

According to the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a potentially historic El Niño is developing in the Pacific, with a 69 percent chance of the event becoming stronger than any recorded since 1950.

Even though the onset of monsoon was delayed due to the El Niño system, Mumbai surpassed its monthly average rainfall quota by an overwhelming 66 per cent – more than its monthly average – with the Santacruz station recording 1,491.9 mm of rainfall between July 1 and 30.

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Spurred by an above-normal rainfall in July, Mumbai has received 2,160.8 mm of rainfall between June and August 17, accounting for 90 percent of the city’s average monsoon quota of 2,390.5 mm of rain.

Even with only moderate rainfall sweeping the city this month, the total stock in the seven lakes – which cater to Mumbai’s potable water demands – on Monday morning touched 13.33 lakh million litres or 92.16 percent of the total stock.