IMD issues red category weather alert for Mumbai on Sunday

With very heavy to extremely heavy rains anticipated this weekend, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a red category weather warning for Mumbai on Sunday, while Saturday and Monday are under orange category

With very heavy to extremely heavy rains anticipated this weekend, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a red category weather warning for Mumbai on Sunday, while Saturday and Monday are under orange category. Citizens have been cautioned to stay at home unless essential.

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The city received 137mm of rain in the 24 hours ending at 5.30pm on Friday, more than the 107mm rain received the day before, according to IMD’s Santacruz weather station. Mumbai is expected to get at least another 200mm-250mm of rainfall by Monday, along with a thunderstorm.

In June so far, the city’s total rainfall including pre-monsoon showers between June 1 and June 8 comes to 670mm, which is 32% more than 505mm — the long-period average for the month. The city exceeded this average on Friday, with the heaviest showers concentrated in the northern suburbs.

Most monitoring locations in south Mumbai received less than 5mm of rain between 3pm and 6pm on Friday, while areas closer to Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the north saw around 40mm rain in three hours.

“With the formation of a low-pressure zone in the north of Bay of Bengal, there will be an inward movement and intensification of the monsoon trough over Arabian Sea, and this may lead to heavy, very heavy and even extremely heavy rainfall over the Maharashtra coast especially Mumbai, Palghar, Thane and Raigad over the next four to five days,” said KS Hosalikar, head of the IMD’s surface instrument division in Pune.

IMD classifies 15.6-64.4mm rain as moderate, 64.5-115.5mm as heavy, 115.6-204.4mm as very heavy, over 204.5mm as extremely heavy rain, and over 300mm as exceptionally heavy rain.