Nagpur’s Rainfall Shifts: Five Years of Unpredictable Monsoons

thenewsdirt
Sep 29
5 min read

Nagpur’s rainy season has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Official data and news reports show that the city, located in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, has seen more total rainfall and more rain-days on average than in the past. At the same time, the timing of the monsoon has fluctuated, sometimes arriving weeks earlier or later than normal.

Farmers and city residents have noticed unusually heavy downpours and unexpected drought spells. In the following account, we trace the changing patterns of rainfall in Nagpur over roughly 2019–2024, using weather bureau data and contemporary reports to document the trends.

Erratic Monsoon Timing and Increasing Totals

Meteorological records reveal that the monsoon has grown longer and wetter in the Nagpur area. A study of Vidarbha found a 39.6% increase in average rainy days when comparing 2019–2023 to 2014–2018.

In concrete terms, Vidarbha counties had about 57.7 days of rain per year in 2014–18 on average, but roughly 80.5 days per year in 2019–23.

Over the same span, annual rainfall rose by about 38.8%, from roughly 847 mm to 1,175 mm. In short, the monsoon season has not only brought more rain, but that rain has fallen on many more days each year.

Climate experts point out that such shifts can reflect both short-term variability and longer-term changes. M.L. Sahu of Nagpur’s Regional Meteorological Centre notes that a late or early rain one year may be a weather variation, but persistent changes over decades would indicate a true climate shift.

In practice, Nagpur’s monsoon arrival date has bounced around. For example, in June 2024, the region saw a sharp 36% shortfall in rainfall by the third week of the month, because the southwest monsoon arrived late.

The RMC reported that in June 2024, the rains were delayed by about five days over Nagpur and its neighbouring districts, in part due to a developing El Niño. Nagpur district itself was 36% below normal for early June, and sowing of some summer crops was set back.

By contrast, the 2025 monsoon was unusually early. India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletins reported that Monsoon 2025 hit Vidarbha on May 28, fully 18 days ahead of the climatological June 15 date.

IMD scientist Dr Rizwan Ahmed noted that this was the earliest monsoon onset over the region in at least five years. In fact, IMD records for Vidarbha show onsets of June 12 (2020), June 14 (2021), June 12 (2022), June 8 (2023) and June 12 (2024) in recent years.

This means that rather than settling on a regular date, the monsoon has alternated between early and late appearances.

Nagpur’s region has seen both above-normal precipitation and unusually timed monsoons, a combination that few farmers would have predicted.

Intense Downpours and Urban Flooding

The changed pattern of monsoon rain has brought some severe extreme events in Nagpur itself.

Several intense downpours in the last few years overwhelmed the city’s drainage. In September 2023, for instance, Nagpur was hit by a sudden cloudburst overnight.

According to press reports, the airport measured 106.0 mm of rain by early morning on September 23, causing Ambazari Lake to overflow.

About 180 people (including students) were rescued from flooded homes as roads and low-lying areas were submerged. One official tweet noted that “incessant rainfall” around the lake was flooding adjacent neighbourhoods. Firefighters and disaster teams worked through the night to evacuate stranded residents.

Nagpur faced another crippling rainstorm in the 2025 monsoon. On September 16-17, 2025, a two-hour deluge slammed the city during evening peak traffic.

Key arteries, such as Wardha Road and the stretch between Law College Square and Bajaj Nagar, were turned into waist-deep lakes.

Commuters were caught unawares, and vehicles stalled in inundated lanes. In Jaripatka and other suburbs, water flooded into houses and ground floors. Fire department logs showed dozens of calls to rescue people from waterlogged homes.

Two trees fell in the downpour, and many underpasses became impassable. Officials noted that the sharp cloudburst exposed weaknesses in Nagpur’s stormwater system, which repeatedly failed to cope with such heavy showers.

In both 2023 and 2025, the combination of long-duration rainfall and poor drainage meant that even a few hours of rain could paralyse large parts of the city.

Agricultural Impacts and Water Management

The shifting rain pattern has had dramatic effects on agriculture in and around Nagpur. Farmers, who depend entirely on the southwest monsoon, have had to cope with flooded fields and delayed crops.

These changing rains “have severely impacted agricultural landscapes” in Vidarbha. In the record monsoon of 2025, unprecedented flooding wrecked harvests across central India.

Official data cited by the Times show that 14.3 million hectares of Maharashtra farmland were submerged or washed away.

This includes large areas of Nagpur’s districts, since 30 of 36 state districts reported crop damage. The deluge hit typical cotton-soybean zones hard. For example, Yavatmal district alone lost crops over about 1.70 lakh hectares in 2024.

These losses prompted the state government to announce a ₹2,215 crore relief package in late 2025 for rain-hit farmers.

Even outside major flood events, the rain pattern remains a challenge. Farmers say that rains now come in intense bursts instead of being spread evenly.

As one agricultural expert noted, concentrated downpours can cause erosion or waterlogging that damages seedlings and soil fertility. At the same time, unexpected dry intervals have held off sowing in some areas. In June 2024, for example, planting was delayed in parts of Maharashtra due to a 31% regional rainfall deficit. Reservoir managers also find the pattern difficult. Heavy rainstorms may fill rivers temporarily, but if much of the rain runs off, dams may not recharge sufficiently.

By mid-2024, live water storage in the Nagpur division was reported to be around 38–39% of capacity, suggesting that even with extra rain on paper, practical reserves can remain modest.

Nagpur’s farmers and city planners are closely watching each monsoon now. With every swing, from record monsoon downpours to late-season drought days, the community is gaining a new sense of uncertainty.

Local agronomists note that traditional crop calendars are being rewritten as rains arrive at unexpected times. Officials say that as the climate continues to vary, forecasts and water management plans must adapt on the fly. The coming monsoons will be watched with particular interest to see if these recent trends hold, and if Nagpur can meet the challenge of its new, unpredictable weather.