At least 10 dead in heavy rain in Maharashtra, Mumbai crosses 3000 mm threshold 

At least 10 people have died in rain-related incidents across Maharashtra, while more than 11,800 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas. According to the State Disaster Management Department, four deaths were reported in Nashik district alone. Two deaths each occurred in Dharashiv and Ahilyanagar, while one each was reported in Jalna and Yavatmal districts, the Indian Express reported. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for four districts – Mumbai suburban, Raigad, Thane and Palghar – warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall. This comes as coastal Maharashtra faces incessant downpour, with rainfall in Mumbai crossing the 3,000 mm threshold for this monsoon season. 

Kolkata: heaviest downpour in 37 years ahead of Durga Puja festivities, 10 dead 

Kolkata received its heaviest rainfall in 37 years causing severe waterlogging, flooding and traffic snarls, reported HT. The downpour also caused several electrocutions, which resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people. 

India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said the rate of rainfall was only 2 mm short of a cloud burst. Kolkata received 98 mm of rain every hour. IMD declares a cloud burst when the figure is 100 mm an hour. 

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee posted on Twitter that the Damodar Valley Corporation and Kolkata’s power utility CESC, were responsible in part for the distress and suffering that the record-breaking torrential rains brought upon state citizens just days before the Durga Puja festivities.

Monsoon ends on Sep 30, with above normal rainfall, second year in a row 

The Southwest Monsoon officially ended on  September 30, with above-normal rain for the second year in a row, which “bodes well for agricultural output as well as the rural economy,although extreme weather events in hill states and floods in Punjab have wreaked significant human and economic damage,” the HT reported. 

As on September 26, rainfall was 7% excess across the country with a 28% excess over Northwest India; 12% excess over Central India; 8% excess over South Peninsula and a 19% deficiency over east and Northeast India, the newspaper report said adding that the monsoon was above normal last year also with rainfall that was 108% of the long period average (LPA) (the average between 1971 and 2020 which stands at 87cm). In 2023, there was below normal rain at 94% of LPA, the outlet added.

La Nina likely to bring in colder winter in north India 

A colder winter is expected in north India this year according to meteorologists, who attribute this to La Nina conditions that are likely to prevail from October to December, reported the HT. 

The newspaper said a weak La Nina emerged last December, but did not sustain. From early December 2024 through February 2025, below-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) persisted in the east-central and central Pacific. During February-March 2025 and late May-August, above-average SSTs were observed in the eastern Pacific. Since the end of March, SSTs have returned to near average across most of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.m, the newspaper explained. 

Super Typhoon Ragasa kills at least 14 in Taiwan as Hong Kong and southern China brace for impact

At least 14 people have been killed after Super Typhoon Ragasa hit Taiwan and left 124 missing after its torrential rains caused a barrier lake to burst, “unleashing a wall of water”, AFP reported. AFP said that the typhoon has forced “Chinese authorities to shut down schools and businesses in at least 10 cities”. Southern China’s Guangdong province has upgraded its typhoon alert to the highest level and evacuated more than 371,000 people across the province in preparation for the typhoon’s arrival, SCMP reported. The New York Times reported that, in total, one million people have been evacuated in China as the storm approaches.

Wildfires delaying formation of snow cover in the Arctic: Study

Wildland fires in seasonally snow-covered areas can have lasting effects on both the snowpack and carbon stocks. Using long-term satellite data, researchers showed that from 1982 to 2018, the burned area in the Arctic has significantly increased, while the duration of snow cover has significantly decreased, Nature reported. An XGBoost machine learning model and causal analysis confirmed the role of wildland fires in delaying snow cover formation, with this effect strongly linked to fire-induced reductions in albedo and increases in temperature.

Scientists said they observed a delay of more than 5 days in snow cover formation following major wildland fires. Projections under a high-emissions scenario (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway, SSP 5-8.5) indicate that the burned area could increase by a factor of 2.6 and the annual mean snow cover duration could decrease by nearly 18 days between 2015 and 2100 compared with the historical average, the research paper said. 

Climate change expanding summer, reducing spring, autum, winter: Study 

Climate change has fundamentally altered global seasonal patterns, expanding the duration of summers, new research found. Scientists develop a standardised 5d temperature-based classification system for seasons from 1971 to 2021 using the fifth-generation ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5). The analysis revealed a pronounced redistribution of seasonal durations. Specifically, summer expanded by 3.2 % grid globally, while spring, autumn, and winter decreased by −2.8 %, −12.1 %, and − 0.9 % in 2021, respectively, compared to 1971. 

Heat stress in India turning chronic kidney disease into epidemic 

An epidemic of CKDu (chronic kidney disease), not linked with known precursors like high blood pressure or diabetes, is on the rise in heat-stressed India, reported Yale Environment 360. Outdoor labourers (mostly in rural areas) working in extreme temperatures in India without breaks for rest in the shade, access to drinking water, and clean bathrooms (to relieve themselves), are increasingly developing chronic kidney disease, the report said. 

CKDu exists in 35 countries including India, which lacks a national registry or database that tracks CKDu diagnoses. Experts warn that rising temperatures linked to climate change are increasing outdoor workers’ exposure to excessive heat, high humidity, and dehydration — factors that are linked with acute kidney injury, which diminishes the organs’ ability to filter waste products from blood. Left untreated, kidney injury can lead to a range of health complications — including pericarditis and pulmonary embolism — that can be fatal.

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