Four days after the onset of the south-west monsoon, Mumbai received intermittent spells of intense showers on Thursday morning. IMD officials attributed this to the influence of a low-pressure circulation over the northern Arabian Sea, which activated an offshore trough, leading to the formation of clouds.
“An upper air cyclonic circulation over the north Konkan and the neighbourhood between 3.1 kilometres (km) to 7.6km intensified monsoon currents and westerly wind pattern over the Mumbai region will lead to intense rain, especially towards the suburbs accompanied with thunder,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
He further said the city and its suburbs could expect intermittent rain with heavy showers likely in isolated areas over the next 24 hours, and moderate rain over 48 hours. “Satellite and radar images have indicated clouds at a height of seven to eight km over the city, which will lead to more intense showers throughout the day on Thursday. The 24-hour forecast indicates heavy rain for MMR and very heavy rain at isolated places in the south Konkan region,” he added.
As per the IMD data, Mumbai and the MMR region have so far received largely excess showers,cumulatively from June 1 to June 18. The Konkan subdivision, which includes Mumbai and the coastal districts of Maharashtra, has received 523 mm rainfall so far, as against the usual 317 mm.
“This was 65 per cent more than the normal rainfall received at this time, which is why they were categorised as largely excess showers,” said an IMD official.
