JUNE 11, 2018
NDRF and CDRF personnel warn motorists against open manholes at Parel East on Saturday. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
MUMBAI – The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared the onset of monsoon over Mumbai, Thane and some other parts of Maharashtra on Saturday, a day earlier than its normal onset date of June 10. While the weather department had predicted extremely heavy showers, the city did not receive rainfall of that intensity.
“We had predicted extremely heavy showers for the city as trough was extending from north Coastal Maharashtra to Kerala. But the trough has shifted south and with it all weather activity has also shifted to south. Now Goa, Sindhudurg and Coastal Karnataka are receiving extremely heavy showers. In fact, Vegurla in Sindhudurg district received 400 mm rainfall. The forecast went wrong as the model takes the initial condition,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet Weather, which had also made the prediction.
According to IMD, from 8.30 am to 11.30 pm Colaba received 160.8 mm rainfall and for the same time Santacruz received 98 mm. Till 5.30 pm, Mazagaon received the maximum rainfall at 119.6 mm, followed by BKC at 97 mm and Dadar at 71.8 mm. The monsoon has advanced to parts of Maharashtra. “Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into most parts of Central Arabian Sea, most parts of Konkan, some more parts Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Northwest Bay of Bengal. The Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) passes through Thane (including Mumbai), Ahmednagar, Parbhani, Yeotmal, Brahmapuri, Rajnandgaon, Bhavanipatna, Puri…” reads a release issued by IMD.
However, the city has been receiving rainfall from Friday night with few places receiving heavy to very heavy rainfall. While Colaba recorded 38.2 mm rainfall on Friday, Santacruz received 37 mm. According to IMD places like Jogeshwari Vikroli Link Road (JVLR), Powai and Nerul received the heaviest 24 hour rainfall. Recorded for 24 hours from 8.30 am of June 8, JVLR received almost 140 mm of rainfall, Powai received 120 mm and Nerul had more than 120 mm rainfall.
According to Skymet, the conditions have again become favourable for moderate to heavy rainfall. “The city will receive moderate showers with one or two heavy spells on Sunday. It will begin around Saturday night and go on till Sunday morning. After a short break in the afternoon, it will again resume in the evening. The city is likely to receive around 80-90 mm rainfall,” said Palawat.
The showers also brought the temperatures down with the maximum temperature recorded at 28.6 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal and minimum temperature at 24.5, two degrees below normal. On the first day of monsoon, several parts of the state received very heavy rainfall. “Widespread rainfall activity observed over Konkan and Goa with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall (more than 204.4 mm) at isolated places,” the release stated.
The rainfall intensity in most parts of the state is likely to decrease from Tuesday. “Enhanced rainfall activity over coastal Karnataka, Goa and coastal Maharashtra due to the strengthening of monsoon is likely to continue till 10th June. Extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Goa and south coastal Maharashtra is also very likely during 9 and 10 June. The rainfall activity over these regions is likely to reduce significantly from 12th June. The rainfall activity over interior Maharashtra is likely to reduce significantly after 48 hrs,” IMD’s release said.
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(Video provided by NDTV)
