IMD upgrades alert to orange: Possibility of very heavy rain in MMR

The weather bureau on Saturday afternoon upgraded its rainfall warning alert to orange (heavy to very heavy rain across isolated areas) for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri for the rest of Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert (heavy rain at isolated areas) for Thane, Palghar and Raigad for Sunday, while Mumbai and Ratnagiri could expect light to moderate rain.

Between 8.30 am and 2.30 pm Saturday, Mumbai suburbs recorded 25.2 mm of rain while south Mumbai recorded 15.2 mm of rain. Major areas in the northern, western and eastern suburbs recorded rainfall ranging between 20-40 mm while south Mumbai areas recorded rain between 10 and 20 mm. The maximum rainfall was recorded at Thane at 43.5 mm. Within the city, Dahisar recorded 35 mm, Bandra recorded 26 mm, Andheri, Goregaon and Lokhandwala all recorded 25 mm, Powai recorded 19.6 mm.

The weather bureau said the city and its suburbs could witness moderate to heavy rain with the possibility of very heavy rain across isolated areas. “Mumbai and its surrounding areas have witnessed intermittent intense showers from Saturday morning. Weather radars and satellite images are indicating dense cloud development and the possibility of very heavy rain in some areas over north Konkan. Thus, we have issued an orange alert,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD, adding, “Rain intensity in some low-lying areas is likely to cause flooding and lead to traffic disruption.”

However, the intensity of rain is likely to reduce for Mumbai and its suburbs from Sunday.

Mumbai has so far recorded 1,166.1 mm rain in August, which is the highest since August 1983 when 1,243.8 mm of rain was recorded. The all-time highest amount of rain in August, 1,254 mm, was recorded in 1958. At 61% excess rain, Mumbai has already received over 3,000 mm rain this season.