Have weekend plans, Mumbai? Heavy rain may be a spoiler, warns weather dept

Intermittent rain with isolated heavy spells expected on Saturday and Sunday for Mumbai, Palghar, Raigad and Thane; this year, Mumbai’s weekends have seen an increase in rainfall activity.

The weather bureau has predicted increased rainfall in the city from Saturday.

The Marine Drive promenade after high tide on Friday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Intermittent rain with isolated heavy spells is expected on Saturday and Sunday for Mumbai, Palghar, Raigad and Thane, according to the weather bureau.

“Due to the formation of a low pressure area over north-west Bay of Bengal, two upper air cyclonic circulations – one over Chhattisgarh and the other over south Gujarat - can pull moisture incursions from the Arabian Sea, giving rain over the north Konkan coast, including Mumbai over the weekend and on Monday,” said Ajay Kumar, scientist, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai.

“We expect these weather systems to persist and give heavy rain through the week.”

Coincidentally, this year, Mumbai’s weekends have seen an increase in rainfall activity.

The monsoon onset had taken place over Mumbai on June 9 (Saturday) and the city recorded 164mm rain during that weekend.

On June 24 (Sunday), the city recorded its third highest all-time 24-hour June rainfall at 231.4mm rain. Last weekend, Mumbai recorded 131.4mm of rain over 24 hours.In the first five weeks of this monsoon, Mumbai has recorded 1669.2mm rain as against 2260mm rain (74%) for four months of the monsoon season (June to September), and 2373mm annual average rain (70%).