Mumbai gets light rains after Diwali

A low-pressure area, which formed over the Arabian Sea on November 2, brought light rains to Mumbai city and suburbs on Friday. However, the showers were not enough to dispel the post-Diwali day spike in air pollution

A low-pressure area, which formed over the Arabian Sea on November 2, brought light rains to Mumbai city and suburbs on Friday. However, the showers were not enough to dispel the post-Diwali day spike in air pollution.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast earlier this week that Mumbai might get an unseasonal bout of light rains over the weekend after Diwali. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The same was the case in Pune city a day earlier, which recorded ‘satisfactory’ air on November 4 and 5.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast earlier this week that the city might get an unseasonal bout of mild rains over the weekend. However, the IMD observatory in Santacruz (taken as representative for the city) recorded ‘NIL’ rainfall at 8.30am Saturday The passage of the low-pressure area (LPA) also caused wind patterns to fluctuate, and easterly winds began to prevail over the region.

“If we had got cleaner and stronger westerly winds from the sea, there would have been more dispersal of residual Diwali pollutants. But with only light rains and easterly winds, there was not much dispersal of particulate matter. The LPA has now moved north-west and wind patterns will stabilise next week. There is only a very slim chance of rain, but skies may remain overcast for another day,” said a meteorologist with the IMD’s regional forecasting centre in Mumbai.

As per IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, the sky will become “mainly clear” from Monday. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 35 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature will hover around 23 degrees Celsius.