Rainfall to peak in Mumbai within next 3 days: IMD

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the possibility of a peak in rainfall across Mumbai within the next three days, while other districts in Maharashtra, including Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Nashik, Pune, Kolhapur, and Ganchiroli have been issued a red alert this week.

On Monday, Mumbai and the Thane region experienced a few intense spells of rainfall. According to the IMD, the city will experience moderate to heavy rainfall at isolated places along with occasional gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph in the next 48 hours.

Maharashtra has been experiencing a good amount of rainfall over the past few days, except for Mumbai, even though the IMD has declared a continuous orange alert for the city. Mumbai IMD official Sushma Nair said, “Earlier, when the red alert was declared for the city, there was a low-pressure area that was going to cause heavy rainfall, but it really moved ahead fast, resulting in less rain. However, all synoptic conditions point to heavy rainfall, so the monsoon could pick up at any time.”

According to Nair, the IMD has given a probable window between Tuesday and Thursday, during which Mumbai's monsoons will witness a peak. “The conditions for the monsoon have been favorable and there is a weather system that is in motion, the winds are moving from east to west (from the low-pressure area formed near Odisha), so we expect good rainfall within this week,” she said.

Weather systems are the movements of warm and cold air across the globe, known as low-pressure systems and high-pressure systems, which help in the formation of clouds leading to rainfall.

On Monday, the minimum temperature recorded in Santacruz was 25.8 °C and the maximum was 29.3°C, while the relative humidity was at 87 per cent. Meanwhile, Colaba experienced a minimum temperature of 26.0 °C and a maximum temperature of 28.8 °C with a relative humidity of 86 per cent.

As per data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), on Monday, Mumbai recorded a good Air Quality Index (AQI) with an AQI of 24, while other cities like Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad recorded an AQI of 38, 20, and 16, respectively. The lower the AQI value, the cleaner the air, while a higher AQI indicates a greater level of air pollution and health concerns.