IMD Issues Red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad amid heavy rain forecast

Mumbai faces a red alert for extreme rainfall, thunderstorms, and gusty winds, as the monsoon continues to impact the region significantly

Mumbai: With the monsoon refusing to bid the city farewell, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a red alert on Sunday for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad, warning of extremely heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds at isolated places.

Coastal districts such as Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, along with the ghat regions of Nashik, are also expected to witness heavy showers: IMD

“Coastal districts such as Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, along with the ghat regions of Nashik, are also expected to witness heavy showers,” an IMD official told PTI.

After a brief return of clear sunny skies, rains began again on Friday night and spilled over to Saturday, paving the way for a gloomy overcast weekend. From 8:30am to 5:30pm on Saturday, the IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 22.4mm of rain, while the Colaba observatory recorded 9.6mm. In the 24 hour period before Saturday 8:30am, the Santacruz observatory had recorded 12mm of rainfall, and Colaba 54mm.

As per the IMD, the southwest monsoon has been particularly devastating in Marathwada, especially over the Konkan-Goa and Madhya-Maharashtra regions. The harsh monsoon seems to stem from a depression over the south coastal Odisha and the resultant trough.

The weather bureau on Saturday morning had issued an ‘orange alert’, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai during the day. However, city skies remained overcast through the day, with some areas receiving light to moderate showers.

The traffic on the city roads was normal in the morning, while the local train services experienced some delays.