Thundershowers announce monsoon’s retreat

Tuesday’s thundershowers not only brought the city much-needed relief, they also sounded the retreat of the monsoon. Soubhik Mitra reports.

Tuesday’s thundershowers not only brought the city much-needed relief, they also sounded the retreat of the monsoon.

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“Thunder clouds are a withdrawal symptom for the southwest monsoon,” said R.V. Sharma, deputy director (western region), India Meteorological Department (IMD).

A combination of dry air currents from the north and moisture-laden winds from the south is helping the formation of thunder clouds, IMD officials said.

“Spells of rain with thunder and lightning are expected to continue till the first week of October,” added Sharma.

Monsoon normally recedes by September end. The city could experience a rapid fluctuation in temperature, making the days hotter and nights chilly. As per the IMD forecast, the maximum temperature may rise up to 32 degrees Celsius.

“The city will get hotter throughout October and mid-November,” said Sharma.

Further, with the relative humidity hovering around 90 per cent, the next few days are expected to be sultry.

Mumbai got an average rainfall of 24 mm on Tuesday, while the eastern and western suburbs got 22 mm and 10 mm. Maximum rainfall was recorded at Dharavi — 40 mm. Some parts of the city were waterlogged for some time. Over 20 trees across the city fell.

The sudden downpour turned out to be dampener for Navratri celebrations. Management Student Paras Desai and his friends were completely drenched on their way to a garba mandal in Goregoan. “We had little option but to return home,” said Desai.

Water levels in the lakes that supply water to the city continued to decrease due to negligible rain in the catchment areas.