Umargam Records India’s Highest Rainfall in 22 Years as Rare Weather Systems Collide

VALSAD : A tiny coastal town in Gujarat has stunned the country’s weather experts. Umargam in Valsad district recorded a staggering 906 mm (36 inches) of rainfall in just 24 hours, making it the highest 24-hour rainfall recorded anywhere in India in the last 22 years. The unprecedented downpour has placed Umargam among the top three highest 24-hour rainfall events ever recorded in the country.

Known for its beaches and a population of less than one lakh, Umargam usually receives 50 to 60 inches of rain during an entire monsoon season. This time, however, nature rewrote the records. The town received 51 inches of rainfall within just 38 hours, including another 14.5 inches between 6 am and 8 pm on Thursday. A cloudburst-like event dumped 7.5 inches of rain in only two hours.

Neighbouring Kaprada also witnessed an extraordinary 32 inches of rainfall, leaving residents and meteorologists astonished by the scale of the event.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), three major weather systems combined to produce the historic rainfall.

“A cyclonic circulation over Madhya Pradesh, an active monsoon trough stretching across central India, and the interaction of a Western Disturbance over Jammu with the monsoon system created exceptionally favourable conditions for intense rainfall,” weather officials said.

Meteorologists also pointed to Umargam’s unique geography. Located on the Arabian Sea coast near the Gujarat-Maharashtra border and close to the Sahyadri mountain range, the town is among the first places in Gujarat to receive the southwest monsoon. Localised monsoon vortexes and cloudburst-like weather systems further intensified the rainfall.

Before Umargam’s record, Sohra (Cherrapunji) recorded 1,563 mm of rain on June 16, 1995, while Aminidivi Islands received 1,168 mm on May 6, 2004. With 906 mm in 24 hours, Umargam now ranks as India’s third-highest recorded 24-hour rainfall event, highlighting the growing intensity of extreme weather across the country.