Cyclone Tauktae: Mumbai receives intense spells of rain with gusty winds

The weather system will also bring some respite from the summer heat, with maximum daytime temperature expected to fall to at least 33 degrees Celsius (°C), as per IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai

Mumbai began receiving intense spells of rain around 7am on Monday, with gusty winds between 75 to 85kmph, under the influence of Cyclone Tauktae which is currently passing by the city’s latitude at a distance of about 150kms from the coast. Intense rains are likely to continue till 2pm, after which they will begin to taper off, officials with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Rain at Andheri in Mumbai amid Cyclone Tauktae on Monday, May 17. (Vijay Bate/HT photo)

Cyclone Tauktae -- now categorised as an extremely severe cyclone by IMD -- is very likely to move north-northwestwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar) around May 18 early morning.

As per IMD data, Mumbai received 12mm rain (as of 8.30am on Monday) in Santacruz and 17mm rain at the IMD’s observatory in Colaba, which received the maximum amount of rain out of Mumbai’s 16 monitoring locations for the same.

Also Watch | Cyclone Tauktae ‘extremely severe’; expected to hit Gujarat coast tonight

“The rain will intensity further before the morning is up. Cloudy conditions will remain for two to three days,” said an official with the IMD’s forecasting centre in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Ratnagiri district recorded extremely heavy rainfall of 364mm on Monday morning, while Kolhapur saw 40mm of rain and Satara saw 36mm of rain.

The weather system will also bring some respite from the summer heat, with maximum daytime temperature expected to fall to at least 33 degrees Celsius (°C), as per IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai. The minimum morning temperature fell to 24°C in the morning (which is down from 26°C on Sunday, and is two degrees below the normal).

The storm prompted a range of precautionary measures by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation which cautioned people to “stay at home and enjoy the weather,” on Twitter, while also closing the Bandra-Worli Sea Link to traffic until the weather improves. Mumbai airport has also been shut till 2pm.Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force have also been stationed in the western suburbs of Mumbai.