Mumbai: The light to moderate rains that hit the city on Monday night intensified on Tuesday morning, leading to Nowcast alerts by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and ultimately placing the city under Orange Alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall until Wednesday, 8.30 am. Although the rains stopped later in the city, the heavy downpour in the morning resulted in waterlogging in several low-lying areas and commuters stranded.
Notably, there was no weather warning issued for Tuesday by the IMD and the sudden intense rain spells took Mumbaikars by surprise. The suburbs received more intense downpours than the city, and many areas recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall.
As per the local weather forecast for the next 24 hours, the skies will be generally cloudy with the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai city and suburbs. Lightning and thunder accompanied with occasional gusty winds (40-50) kmph are very likely. The maximum & minimum temperatures will be around 27 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius.
On Tuesday, from 10 am to 6 pm, the areas that received the highest rainfall included: Ramabai Nagar, Ghatkopar (83 mm); Maharashtra Nagar, Malad (83 mm); Powai (82 mm); Tagore Nagar, Vikhroli (80 mm); Dongri, Andheri (68 mm) and Nariyalwadi, Santacruz (63 mm) among others.
“The well-marked low-pressure area over central parts of north Rajasthan moved slowly west-northwestwards, concentrated into a depression and resulting in intense rain spells in Mumbai and its neighbouring districts. The effect will gradually decrease on Wednesday and the city is likely to receive moderate to heavy rain spells on Wednesday,” said IMD Mumbai scientist Sushma Nair.
However, with the sudden heavy rainfall, areas like DP Road in Chandivali, Powai, Kurla Kamani, Andheri subway and others went under water. In Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar, the area around Dominic Savio School was flooded, forcing the students to walk in knee-deep water. The Andheri subway was closed for some time due to flooding, while traffic came to a standstill in the western suburbs at noon.
In the period of 24 hours (from Monday 8 pm to Tuesday 8 pm), the weather stations that received around 100 mm of rainfall included:
Ramabai Nagar, Ghatkopar – 123 mm
Maharashtra Nagar, Mankhurd – 108 mm
Tagore Nagar, Vikhroli – 113 mm
Paspoli, Powai – 106 mm
Dongri, Andheri – 90 mm
Vihar Lake – 80 mm
BKC Fire station – 91 mm
Collector colony, Chembur – 85 mm
