Early arrival of monsoon in India floods Mumbai

After a long weekend featuring beautiful tornadoes (first Colorado, then New Mexico), and rounds of storms in the central U.S., we kick off the shortened work week focused on South Asia as the monsoon kicks into gear. There’s some stuff going on locally, too.

Weather Watch

Unsettled Eastern U.S. More storminess is on the way as yet another dip in the jet stream develops and lingers into the weekend. First, a preview of coming attractions Tuesday night into Wednesday for the Mid-Atlantic, with 1 to 2 inches of rain widespread south of the Mason-Dixon. We could even see another nor’easter late week.

Heat building west. An extreme heat watch is already in effect Friday and Saturday for California’s Central Valley and the region in and around Las Vegas, including Death Valley. Temperatures around 105 or higher are forecast.

Lightning links

Six-inch diameter hail fell in Texas on Sunday. Check out the satellite imagery.

Kilauea Volcano sends lava shooting 300m high in Hawaii.

Monsoon arrives early in India

A seasonal shift in winds and weather patterns that bring copious rain to South Asia in summer has arrived in India. It’s the earliest onset of the monsoon for the country in 16 years. For some spots, it’s much earlier than that.

The Indian Express called it the “earliest onset of monsoon in its history” for Mumbai, the largest city in the nation.

As rain poured down, flooding swamped the city on Sunday — scenes of waist-high water on streets were common. It comes in the midst of Mumbai’s wettest May in a century.

With preparations for summer monsoon typically finished by the first week of June in the city, it is thought that incomplete work led to worsened flooding. Examples given include pumps not fully deployed and drains not completely cleaned out.

Officials said the deadline for completion of pre-monsoon work was June 5 this year. Onset of monsoon in Mumbai is typically during the second week of the month.

Additional rain is expected in the city. A red alert continues there through Tuesday. There’s also a five-day red alert for coastal areas of southwest India for periods of excessive rainfall.

The monsoon sweeps across India over the course of several weeks, taking over from southeast to northwest. It usually runs through September.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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