Monsoon Races Into India

It was one of the earliest onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, reaching the southernmost state on May 24. The last time it came this early was 16 years ago. What it did next was even more unexpected, progressing all the way to Maharashtra in just a day.

In a press release on May 25, the India Meteorological Department stated, ‘The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea, some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra, some more parts of westcentral and north Bay of Bengal, and some more parts of Mizoram, some parts of Manipur and Nagaland.’

Large parts of Mumbai were inundated as rains lashed it, and on May 26, the IMD posted on X that the monsoon had reached there too. The post said, ‘Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Karnataka including Bengaluru, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, some more parts of westcentral & North Bay of Bengal, Remaining parts of Mizoram, entire Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, some parts of Assam and Meghalaya,   today the 26th May.’

Normally, the monsoon reaches Kerala by June 1 and Maharashtra by June 10. This is the earliest it has hit the financial capital. On three separate years in the past, the last being 1971, it arrived in Mumbai on May 29, a record that now broken by three days. In another X post, IMD said, ‘The Southwest Monsoon has advanced to Mumbai today, 26th May 2025, against the normal date of advancement, 11th June. Thus, the monsoon has arrived in Mumbai 16 days earlier than usual. This marks the earliest monsoon advancement over Mumbai during the period 2001–2025.’ Rain alerts have been issued in a number of places with transport services disrupted.

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