Monsoon likely to arrive in state within two days, says IMD

South Konkan can expect heavy rain over the next two days as the southwest monsoon is expected to cross the southern tip of Maharashtra by Wednesday, the weather

South Konkan can expect heavy rain over the next two days as the southwest monsoon is expected to cross the southern tip of Maharashtra by Wednesday, the weather bureau said on Monday.

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The Konkan coast — Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg — are likely to witness thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds reaching speeds of 30-40kmph at isolated places from Wednesday to Friday, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) district rainfall forecast on Monday said.

“Conditions are becoming favourable for the onset of monsoon in some parts of Konkan in the next two days. Onset over south Konkan very likely, while further progression of the system will allow increase in rain activity along the coast, including for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR),” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general (western region), IMD.

Meanwhile, Mumbai woke up to one of its coolest June mornings on Monday as moderate overnight showers led to a significant drop in minimum temperatures.

Between 11.30pm Sunday and 8.30am Monday, south Mumbai recorded 27mm rain, while the suburbs recorded 19.1mm rain. However, no rain was recorded from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Monday.

IMD classifies heavy rain between 64.5mm to 124.4mm, while moderate rain falls in the range of 7.6mm to 35.5mm.

Continuous showers in most parts of the city led to a sharp plunge in minimum temperatures that fell below 5 degrees Celsius on Monday. The Santacruz weather observatory, representative of the suburbs and Mumbai, recorded 22.3 degrees Celsius, 5.6 degrees Celsius below normal. This was the third lowest minimum temperature in Mumbai over the past 10 years. The lowest was last year on June 5 at 21.2 degrees Celsius, while the second lowest was on June 25, 2018 at 22 degrees Celsius. The all-time lowest minimum temperature was recorded on June 21, 1980 at 19.8 degrees Celsius. The Colaba weather station, representative of south Mumbai, recorded 21.5, 5 degrees Celsius below normal. Monday’s maximum temperature was a degree Celsius below normal at 32.2 degrees Celsius in the suburbs while it was 4 degrees Celsius below normal in south Mumbai at 30 degrees Celsius.

IMD issued a forecast of moderate rain for Tuesday, and termed the overnight showers as pre- monsoon rain. “As monsoon approaches closer to the Maharashtra coast, we expect a gradual increase in rainfall through the week,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general, IMD. “Monsoon onset is most likely expected around Mumbai’s new onset date of June 11.”

Moisture levels on Monday morning were high as 93% humidity was recorded in south Mumbai and 78% in the suburbs. Over the past eight days, June 1 to 8, the suburbs has recorded 185.6 mm rain, 40% above normal for the period, while 205.2 mm has been recorded in south Mumbai, 35% above normal for the first eight days of the month.