IMD relegates alert; heavy rain to elude Mumbai as for now
IMD relegates alert; heavy rain to elude Mumbai as for now
IMD in a fresh forecast bulletin, indicates that isolated pockets of the city and its neighbouring districts may witness heavy rainfall between Wednesday and Thursday. However, scientists maintain that the very heavy downpour typical of the Mumbai monsoon is unlikely to sweep the city.
Regardless the yellow alert since June 23, Mumbai woke up to dry skies on Tuesday morning, with the Santacruz station registering 0.2 mm rain and the Colaba coastal observatory recording no rainfall at all in the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am.
Infact there is a lull in Mumbai rains after early onset.
However, a fresh yellow alert was sounded for Mumbai as well as Thane, starting on Wednesday, stating that isolated pockets of the districts may experience heavy showers at least until Thursday. For Raigad district, meanwhile, an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall has been issued for Thursday and Friday.
According to Sushma Nair, IMD,
Director, the financial hub is not experiencing heavy showers as there is not much strength in the westerlies. Furthermore, there was a change in the wind directions and weather systems, owing to which the alert was downgraded on Tuesday.
Mumbai is passing through a shortfall of nearly 50 per cent in its quota of June rain. Even as the city receives an average of 550 mm rainfall in June, the Santacruz observatory has recorded 200 mm rain so far, since the onset of the monsoon on June 9.
As per IMD data, while suburban Mumbai recorded a negative departure of 47 per cent, the rainfall in the Mumbai city division was deficient by 40 per cent. Rainfall in Thane was deficient by 39 per cent, followed by Raigad, where 35 per cent rain deficiency was observed until Tuesday.
Nair indicated that Mumbai is unlikely to experience “very heavy” rain over the next few days. “Over the next few days, the city may experience intermittent spells of rain. However, the heavy downpour which is typically associated with Mumbai monsoons is unlikely on cards.
The water stock in the seven lakes that supply water to the city continued to languish at 5 per cent, which is the lowest in the past three years at least. On Tuesday, the lake levels sank to 5.29 per cent of the total live storage, which amounts to 76,602 million litres. In 2023, on the same day, the lake levels stood at 6.49 per cent despite a late monsoon onset, while in 2022, the water stock floated at 9.56 per cent.
News Edit K.V.Raman
