A day after India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted that monsoon would sweep across Mumbai in the upcoming weekend, the body has issued a yellow alert, indicating heavy spells of rain, for Mumbai and its neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar, for Monday and Tuesday ((June 26–27). According to IMD officials, the intensity of the downpour is expected to increase gradually over the next four to five days.
In its forecast of the upcoming five days, IMD has put in place a yellow warning for all districts of Maharashtra. Meanwhile, for several districts of Vidarbha region that are grappling with extreme heat, the IMD issued an orange warning implying heavy to very heavy rainfall coupled with thunderstorms and lightning, on Friday.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Thursday, officials at IMD Mumbai and climate experts had said that they were monitoring the situation and that conditions appeared favourable for the commencement of monsoon in the upcoming weekend. Sushma Nair, scientist at IMD said, “We are expecting the monsoon to arrive this weekend, sometime between June 23 and June 25. There is a possibility of good rain in the upcoming week. ”
On Friday, several pockets of the city experienced light spells of pre-monsoon showers. Reports released by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) showed that while Mumbai’s city division recorded 0.23 mm, eastern and western suburbs experienced 0.08 mm and 0.03 mm through Thursday and the intervening night of Friday.
In its wait for monsoon, Mumbai continued to sizzle as temperatures hovered over 34 degree Celsius. IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 34.5 degrees and the Colaba observatory recorded 34.4 degrees, both marking a departure of three degrees above normal.
This year, the monsoon in Mumbai has been delayed by almost two weeks, owing to Cyclone Biparjoy brewing over Arabian Sea. Weather experts have touted this year’s monsoon as possibly the most delayed monsoon in a decade.
In its forecast of the upcoming five days, IMD has put in place a yellow warning for all districts of Maharashtra.
Source : Indian Express
