As cyclone Maha makes landfall, brace for thundershowers from November 6-8

District administrations have been directed to take precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incidents.

The state government has issued thundershower warnings for north Konkan, including Mumbai, and districts of north-central Maharashtra for November 6 to 8 due to movement of tropical cyclone Maha towards Gujarat. The cyclone is traveling at a maximum speed of 110 km/hr.

A view of a flooded area at Chellanam area in Kochi. In the wake of the two cyclonic systems - Kyaar and Maha - in the Arabian Sea, heavy rains are expected. (PTI)

District administrations have been directed to take precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incidents. Warnings have been issued to the fishing community along north Konkan as well. The alert is based on the forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“The cyclonic storm Maha in the east-central Arabian Sea is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by late evening on Sunday. It is likely to move west north-westward till Monday, and from Tuesday onward, it is likely to recurve east north-eastward and move towards Gujarat,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather, IMD Pune. “The cyclone is likely to make landfall on November 6 night along Diu and Surat and will lead to extremely heavy rain for the Gujarat coast and isolated heavy spells for extreme north Maharashtra districts such as Dahanu, Palghar, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Nashik, and Dhule. Mumbai and surrounding areas are likely to receive light to moderate showers between November 6 and November 8.”

Independent meteorologists said the cyclone will weaken as it inches towards Gujarat and will not lead to any extreme weather conditions for Maharashtra. “As of Sunday evening, cyclone Maha was at a safe distance from Maharashtra’s coast. The cyclone will continue to steer away from the Indian coast till November 5. Thereafter, strong upper-level winds from the west will start pushing the cyclone towards Gujarat and weaken in this process. Thus, this is not going to be a concerning situation for Maharashtra’s fishermen. Maharashtra’s west coast [especially northern parts], parts of Khandesh and Nashik district will witness some cloud cover on November 6 along with chances of thundershowers,” said Akshay Deoras, meteorologist and PhD researcher, University of Reading, UK.

“Adjoining parts of Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada could also receive some thunderstorms while cloud cover with light rain in parts of the Mumbai region is expected on November 6,” Deoras said.

The maximum temperature on Sunday was 2 degrees Celsius below normal with 32 degrees Celsius in south Mumbai and 32.7 degrees Celsius in the suburbs. A partly cloudy sky has been predicted for Monday.