Light rains to continue as Cyclone Tauktae recedes from Maharashtra coast

Moderate rains and strong winds, which began on Monday under the influence of Cyclone Tauktae, are likely to continue on Tuesday as well but with significantly less intensity, according to official forecasts

Moderate rains and strong winds, which began on Monday under the influence of Cyclone Tauktae, are likely to continue on Tuesday as well but with significantly less intensity, according to official forecasts.

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After touching a record-breaking speed of 114kmph (kilometre per hour) at 2pm on Monday, wind velocity had slowed down to about 78kmph at 8pm on Monday, and is likely to hover between 40 to 50kmph on Tuesday with heavy rainfall at isolated locations in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts.

“It is the north Konkan region which will continue to see some precipitation while parts of the coast are likely to have seen gale winds touching around 90kmph during the night, but the daytime will see consistent improvement in the situation. In Mumbai, the situation was considerably calmer by 10pm on Monday,” said a meteorologist with India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) regional forecasting centre in Mumbai.

Not only did Mumbai see record levels of rainfall — 194mm in 12 hours, leading to its wettest day in May yet, it also recorded its lowest daytime temperature for May in at least a decade on Monday at 26.9 degrees Celsius, which was seven degrees below normal.

This is down sharply from 37.4 degrees Celsius recorded on Saturday, which marked Mumbai’s hottest May day in at least a decade, due to a dense cloud cover which acted as a heat trap and pushed up the temperature.

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, the maximum temperature on Monday is expected to rise to about 28 degrees Celsius and will climb sharply during the week as the cyclone moves away, touching 35 degrees Celsius by next weekend.

“Generally cloudy skies with moderate to light rains and drizzles” are expected to prevail till May 19, after which skies will become clearer and sunnier.