‘Monsoon to arrive in Mumbai two days before date of onset’: IMD

The north-most limit of the monsoon, as of Tuesday afternoon, was continuing to pass over Alibag and Pune.

The southwest monsoon is likely to arrive in the city on June 9, two days earlier than its normal onset date of June 11, officials in the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: A woman takes photographs with her mobile phone against the backdrop of monsoon clouds at a beach in Kochi, India June 8, 2019. REUTERS/Sivaram V/File photo (REUTERS)

“The conditions for the onset of the monsoon have become very favourable over Mumbai and the larger Konkan area. It may happen within the next 24 hours,” said Shubhangi Bhute, meteorologist with the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, on Tuesday afternoon.

The north-most limit of the monsoon, as of Tuesday afternoon, was continuing to pass over Alibag and Pune.

“A Low-Pressure Area is likely to form over North Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood areas around June 11 2021. Under its influence, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity is likely,” said the IMD.

Heavy showers are expected in Mumbai for at least three days between June 9 and June 14. The IMD has also issued an orange category, ‘severe warning’, alert for the entire Konkan coast on June 12.

For the day, Mumbai received 19.6mm of pre-monsoon rainfall as per data from its observatory in Santacruz. However, several other parts of the city received as much as 40mm of rain, as per data with the municipal corporation. Till June 8, Mumbai received 27 per cent of its monthly average for the season at 136 mm rain (as against the monthly average of 493.1 mm).

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, “generally cloudy sky with heavy rain” has been forecast till June 12, after which the intensity of showers may reduce for a period. The city’s maximum daytime temperature was 32.1 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was 25.5 degrees Celsius, both 2 degrees below normal.

Mumbai has now seen two consecutive days of below normal diurnal temperatures.

Despite intense spells of rain being in the forecast, independent meteorologists pointed out that IMD’s doppler radar has not been functional for at least three weeks now, since the passage of cyclone Tauktae.

“The monsoon is set to arrive in Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra very soon, but the radar at Mumbai continues to be out of order. The entire coast is set to witness a lot of rain from this weekend. In the absence of this radar, real-time monitoring of heavy rains is impossible,” independent meteorologist Akshay Deoras tweeted.

IMD officials in Mumbai were unable to clarify when the radar will be up and running again.