Mumbai may get light rain on Sunday

The weather bureau on Thursday issued forecast for very light to light rain for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and light to moderate rain for Raigad on Sunday.

The weather bureau on Thursday issued forecast for very light to light rain for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and light to moderate rain for Raigad on Sunday.

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The India Meteorological department (IMD) said the current weather models predicted the possibility of rain, a rare phenomenon during December, but the forecast will be revised in coming days. “Owing to the presence of a low-pressure weather system in the Arabian Sea and another weather system (upper-air cyclonic circulation) over west Madhya Pradesh, light rain activity has been predicted along the Konkan coast (apart from Sindhudurg) slowly moving inland over the state between Sunday and Monday,” said SG Kamble, scientist, IMD Mumbai. “The forecast will be revised based on how these weather systems strengthen or weaken.”

Private weather forecasting agency Skymet also issued a similar forecast, but said low intensity rain was likely for only a day (Sunday) in Mumbai. “Unseasonal showers are expected in several parts of Maharashtra due to multiple weather features,” said GP Sharma, president (meteorology), Skymet. He explained that a low-pressure area (expected to become well marked over the next two days) was present over southcentral Arabian Sea, which is governing the airflow and sending winds towards coastal Maharashtra. Additionally, an upper air cyclonic circulation is coming up over west Madhya Pradesh adjoining Gujarat region and another weather system over central parts of the country was all responsible for untimely rain. “Under the influence of all these weather features, there is a confluence of wind extending from these systems leading to cloud cover and light rain for Maharashtra for December 22 and 23, including for Mumbai,” said Sharma.

Mumbai had recorded unseasonal showers on December 5 when 1.2mm rain was recorded under the influence of Cyclone Pawan (fifth cyclone in Arabian Sea this year).

The last time Mumbai recorded rain in December was when Cyclone Ockhi went past the city on December 5 and 6, 2017, when 53.8mm rain was recorded in the suburbs and 82.2mm in south Mumbai. It was also the all-time highest December rain for Mumbai.

The forecast also identified light to moderate rain for Sunday across Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara, Jalna, Aurangabad, and very light to light rain across parts of northcentral Maharashtra, Vidarbha and isolated areas in Marathwada between Sunday and Monday.

Independent meteorologists also confirmed that Maharashtra may experience unsettled weather conditions in the coming week. “Normally, the state witnesses winds from the north in December which lead to low temperatures and dry weather conditions. However, the state is likely to witness winds from the south and south-east in the coming week leading to moisture incursion, cloud cover, some thunderstorms and an increase in minimum temperatures. Thus, Mumbai Metropolitan Region can witness cloud cover along with light rain showers in this period. A clarity in this forecast is expected by December 21,” said Akshay Deoras, meteorologist and PhD researcher, University of Reading, UK.

The city recorded marginally hotter conditions on Thursday as the day temperature increased to 34.1 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature at 21.4 degrees Celsius. The air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 169, falling under the ‘moderate’ category.