MUMBAI: As rains periodically lashed several parts of the city on Friday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert -- heavy rainfall at isolated places in Mumbai and Thane for Saturday. There is an orange alert for Palghar on Saturday.
The IMD on Friday predicted a generally cloudy sky with moderate rain in Mumbai till August 31. “Few heavy spells of rain in Vidarbha and moderate to heavy spells in adjoining parts of Marathwada and North Konkan areas will occur in the next 24 hours,” IMD's bulletin stated
IMD’s deputy-director general of meteorology (Western region) , KS Hosalikar, said that radar images show moderate to intense development over Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai areas. "Intense spells have been being observed in a few areas with breaks. Last few hours -- Chembur 90mm, Santacruz, BKC received 40+ mm rains, while Navi Mumbai and Thane received 40mm-70mm rainfall. Friday was a typical rainy day with cloudy sky, moderate/heavy spells. Satellite/radar images confirming the same. Vidarbha (rain) too heavy," tweeted Hosalikar.
Private weather agency Skymet said that Santacruz recorded 5 mm and Colaba recorded 6 mm of rain in the past 24 hours. “We expect gradual increase in rain activities over Mumbai and suburbs by Friday afternoon or evening. There may be few intense spells of rain,” said Skymet.
Skymet further said that as the monsoon surge is not very active, therefore we do not expect difficulty in commuting. “Temperatures in Mumbai and suburbs will drop by two to three degrees.”
The rain activities are expected to increase further over Mumbai and suburbs during the night and on August 29. There may be some decrease in rain activities over Mumbai and suburbs on August 30 and by August 31.
The weather department’s Santacruz observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 31 degree Celsius and a minimum temperature of 25 degree Celsius, while the Colaba observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 31.4 degree Celsius and a minimum temperature of 25.5 degree Celsius.
Mumbai received 1,044.8 mm rain between August 1 and 25, breaking a decade-long record of maximum August rainfall at 1,036.5 mm in 2010. The all-time highest rain in the month of August (1,254 mm) was recorded in 1958. Whereas, Maharashtra has so far received about 17 per cent more rainfall than its average since June, the weather bureau said. The state received 914.3 mm rainfall from June 1 to August 25, as against the average
of 778.6 mm for the same period.
