Amid continuous moderate showers for the last 24 hours across the city, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared an orange alert (moderate to heavy rainfall) for Thursday over Mumbai and Thane, owing to a cyclonic circulation. This favourable monsoonal condition is likely to increase the intensity of rainfall over the weekend as well.
According to the IMD, a cyclonic circulation is likely to have formed over the Bay of Bengal resulting in heavy rainfall over the Konkan belt and parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, over the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, the Santacruz observatory on Tuesday marked 93.4 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours (100mm is considered as heavy rainfall).
According to IMD official KS Hosalikar, a well-marked low-pressure area is now over Madhya Pradesh and the low-pressure belt extends from Maharashtra to the Goa coast. Therefore, the monsoon will remain active in the state for the next 3 or 4 days, and the chances of heavy to very heavy rain in some parts of Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra, as well as Mumbai and Thane, is very likely, this is also a favorable situation for strong winds over these districts.
IMD official Sushma Nair added saying that, "Regarding the weekend forecast, as of now the cyclonic circulation seems to favour the rainfall intensity over the city however, we will have to wait and track it over the next 48 hours for a confirm conclusion regarding very heavy rainfall over the weekend."
The IMD has also mentioned a few expected impacts including water logging in most parts of low-lying areas, the possibility of danger to very old buildings, and transport disruptions. Regarding the wind speed, the IMD added saying that, there is a possibility of occasional gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 gusting to 60 kmph along and off the coast.
Other districts including Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, and Satara have also been given an orange alert this week.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperature recorded in Santacruz was 24.5 °C and the maximum was 30.5 °C, also the relative humidity was 95%. While Colaba experienced a minimum temperature of 25.2°C and a maximum temperature of 30.5°C with a relative humidity of 95%.
The city also witnessed a good air day on Tuesday. According to the data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), on Tuesday, Mumbai recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) with an AQI of 14, while other cities like Delhi, Pune, and Ahmedabad recorded an AQI of 25, 19, and 25 respectively.
