Mumbai on Wednesday recorded its second-highest 24-hour rainfall in the month of December, as unseasonal showers returned after a brief hiatus.
In the 24-hour period ending 8:00 am, on Thursday, Mumbai, its eastern and western suburbs recorded 83.69 mm, 79.83 mm and 73.26mm of rain respectively.
The maximum temperature plunged to 24.8 degree Celsius, eight degrees below normal,on Wednesday, owing to the rains, the IMD said.
According to reports, rains in Maharashtra are expected to continue on Thursday.
The IMD said that moderate spells of rain very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Raigad, Thane, Mumbai, Ratnagiri ,Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Pune, Nasik during next 3-4 hours.
However for Mumbai, the intensity is expected to decrease by mid day.
Mumbai is expected to witness partly cloudy sky with few spells of rain or thundershowers throughout the week till Sunday.
Rain in November-December is not a usual feature in Maharashtra. However, when a cyclonic circulation lies over the southeast and the Eastcentral Arabian Sea, its interaction with a western disturbance - a cyclonic circulation that originates in the Mediterranean, traverses across Central Asia and gives rain and snow over north India - brings a lot of moisture, Sathi Devi, head of the National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC) of the IMD said.
"Due to these two systems, widespread rain with heavy to very heavy precipitation is likely over Gujarat, north central Maharashtra and north Konkan on Wednesday," she added.
