Mumbai: The city on Thursday evening experienced its heaviest and widespread pre-monsoon showers of the season. Areas of South Mumbai, western and eastern suburbs, Thane, and Navi Mumbai experienced light to moderate showers.
Meanwhile, after the showers, local train services on the Central Railway mainline between CSMT- Kalyan/Karjat/ Kasara were operating with 20 minutes delay owing to tripping of overhead wires due to rainfall.
Images from the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) doppler radar in Mumbai showed the formation of moderately intense, rain-bearing clouds at a height of around 6-8kms, leading to lightning and thunder, at around 8pm. The IMD soon issued a warning that thunderstorms with moderately intense rain and gusty winds of up to 40kmph are likely until around midnight, and advised citizens to watch the weather conditions in their area before venturing out.
However, the arrival of the monsoon over the city is not expected for another two to three days, according to officials at the IMD’s regional forecasting centre in Mumbai. The usual onset date for the city is June 11. By June 9 last year, the city had already recorded over 100mm of rain, as the monsoon had also arrived earlier than usual.
“My expectation is that the monsoon will reach Mumbai in the next week, but the arrival doesn’t appear to be robust this time. Overall, below-average rainfall in the region, as well as many parts of India, is expected till around 20 June,” said Akshay Deoras, an independent meteorologist and PhD candidate at the University of Reading, UK.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai until the weekend, with thunderstorms and gusty winds being very likely to occur at isolated places.
“The next few days will likely see a build-up in humidity and also a rise in temperature. So far, conditions have been quite dry, and there will be a break from the heat only after the first proper monsoon showers,” said an IMD official.
The minimum temperature in the city on Wednesday touched 29.5 degrees, the second highest minimum temperature recorded in a decade, which officials attributed to the combined effect of residual heat along with the incursion of moisture.