Mumbai Due to the formation of a low-pressure area over the north Bay of Bengal, the city received heavy rain in isolated locations on Tuesday, and is predicted to receive light to moderate showers on Wednesday as well.
The low-pressure area, which formed on August 13, has since moved inland and reached Rajasthan on August 16. As a result, an offshore monsoon running from south Gujarat to north Maharashtra has been strengthened, causing fast-moving, moisture-bearing westerly winds to deposit rain over Mumbai and surrounding districts, including Raigad, Thane and Palghar.
The city’s base weather station in Santacruz recorded 46.4mm of rain in the eight hours ending 5:30pm on Tuesday. However, other parts of the city saw more intense showers, with north and central suburbs being the worst hit. Kandivali witnessed 88mm of rain in the same time period, while Borivali saw 70mm of rain. South Mumbai saw less heavy weather activity, with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) observatory in Colaba recording just 23.4mm of rain on Tuesday.
In fact, the IMD’s Santacruz weather station on Tuesday crossed the 2000mm mark for the season, i.e. from June 1. Since then, Mumbai has received a total of 2001.5mm of rain, as against the seasonal normal of 2205mm.
As the LPA moves deeper into Rajasthan and then toward the Pakistan border, the intensity of rains in Mumbai will also decrease over the next 36 hours. Official forecasts suggest that a fresh LPA will form in the Bay of Bengal around August 19, which will keep the city’s wet spell going. However, no severe weather warnings have been issued by the IMD for Mumbai until August 20.