The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, light to moderate rainfall, and gusty winds reaching speeds of 30–40 kmph at isolated places.
Meanwhile, no weather alert has been issued for Mumbai, though the city is likely to witness partly cloudy skies with occasional light to moderate spells of rain across the city and suburbs on Saturday.
According to the IMD, maximum and minimum temperatures in Mumbai are expected to hover around 33 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Apart from the Mumbai region, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Nashik, and the ghats of Nashik have also been placed under a yellow alert, indicating the likelihood of thunderstorms and moderate rainfall in parts of Maharashtra.
Light to moderate rain continues in Mumbai; IMD predicts more showers
Several parts of Mumbai continued to receive light to moderate rain on Friday, when the India Meteorological Department`s (IMD) 24-hour forecast issued a green alert for the city, indicating light rainfall or thundershowers. Meanwhile, the nowcast on Tuesday afternoon and evening — issued every three hours — showed a yellow alert for Mumbai, indicating moderate rainfall.
In a statement on Friday evening, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, “Light to moderate spells of rain are very likely with a possibility of thunder and lightning accompanied by occasional gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph in some areas in Mumbai, Palghar, Raigad, and Thane.”
Thundershowers indicate short, intense spells of rain, as witnessed on Sunday. This is contrary to rainfall during the monsoon season, which can continue throughout the day. In the 24 hours between Thursday and Friday, Mumbai`s Colaba weather station recorded 4 mm of rainfall, while Santacruz witnessed 7 mm.
Why still raining?
The IMD has said this is unseasonal rainfall. It announced the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from Mumbai on October 10. Over the last weekend, however, the IMD had predicted rain for Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra till Thursday (October 30), with thundershowers in isolated places. According to IMD`s forecast, Mumbai is on green alert with light rainfall throughout this weekend. Coastal districts of Maharashtra, including Thane, Palghar, and Raigad, are on yellow alert (moderate rainfall).
