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Ground heating, abundant moisture may have been behind Mumbai thunderstorm

ByJayashree Nandi
May 14, 2024 12:06 PM IST

KS Hosalikar, who heads climate research and services at IMD in Pune, said the gusty winds and rain in Mumbai was a typical pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity

A combination of ground heating, abundant moisture, and instability in the atmosphere may have been behind gusty winds of up to 50-60 km per hour that left at least 14 people dead and 74 injured in Mumbai on Monday. This is not unprecedented, but it is relatively uncommon, according to experts.

Rescue and relief work underway in Mumbai. (PTI)
Rescue and relief work underway in Mumbai. (PTI)

Typical pre-monsoon thunderstorm

KS Hosalikar, who heads climate research and services at India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Pune, said the gusty winds and rain in Mumbai was a typical pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity, which has been seen across the country including in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh. “These are mesoscale events...they are very localised...with a radius of only 40 to 50 km as against a synoptic scale activity such as monsoon.”

He said colour-coded warnings were issued and nowcast was provided with details of areas that will be affected. “...advisory on damage to be expected [was issued].”

He said it was the first pre-monsoon rain for parts of Maharashtra. “The land was dry and gusty winds raised dust which obscured visibility. This was followed by thunder, lightning, and rain. The event was over quickly, a little after 5pm [Monday].”

Hosalikar said there was also widespread thunder activity in other parts of Maharashtra such as Palghar and Pune. He added severe ground heating, abundant moisture, and instability in the atmosphere made the thunderstorm intense. “This led to very high wind speeds; maybe even up to 50 to 60 km per hour,” said Hosalikar.

SG Kamble, the IMD’s Mumbai head, said the thunderstorm activity lasted between 4-5 pm with very high and gusty winds. “We had issued a nowcast three hours in advance which said we can expect winds of 40-60 km per hour. ...pre-monsoon thunderstorms impact some infrastructure.”

He said there was also a trough stretching from South Interior Karnataka to Madhya Pradesh. Following an interaction of winds, the winds got dispersed which led to dust rising. “Whenever winds are higher than 30 knots, we have to stop operations at the airport. So, we had to suspend flight operations. We are analysing how much was the highest wind speed,” said Kamble.

Active pre-monsoon season

The pre-monsoon season has been active because of intense surface heating. Parts of the country recorded above-normal heat wave days and intense heat, especially in east and peninsular India, in April. But that is not the only factor. “There has been intense heating. So, surface temperatures are high but there is also abundant moisture. That may be due to back-to-back western disturbances which also ensure moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea. I suspect that together they made conditions favourable for atmospheric instability and widespread thunderstorm activities,” said Hosalikar.

Rescuers were at the scene until early on Tuesday as scores remained trapped. The thunderstorm disrupted traffic in parts of India’s financial capital and operations at the Mumbai airport. It was the latest in a series of pre-monsoon thunderstorms, which have been active in May. A thunderstorm with peak winds of nearly 80 km per hour killed at least two people, and damaged infrastructure last Friday in Delhi. On May 5, a hailstorm in Manipur’s Imphal valley disrupted life and caused damage to infrastructure.

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