Expect heavy rain on Wednesday: IMD issues alert

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar, and a red alert for Raigad and Ratnagiri for Wednesday.

An orange alert directs authorities to be prepared for ‘heavy to very heavy rain’ while red alert means extremely heavy rain at isolated places.

A yellow alert for moderate rain with heavy showers at isolated areas has been predicted for Tuesday.

Mumbai suburbs on Monday witnessed moderate showers with intermittent spells of intense rain while only light rain was recorded in south Mumbai. Santacruz weather observatory recorded 26.8mm rain between 8.30am and 5.30pm, while Colaba recorded 4mm.

In Mumbai, maximum rain was recorded at Mulund at 46mm, while Kasarvadavali in Thane recorded 51.4mm and Airoli in Navi Mumbai recorded 47mm.

Between 8.30am Sunday to 8.30am Monday, Santacruz recorded 69.6mm rain while Colaba recorded 22.4mm rainfall. IMD classifies 15.6mm-64.4mm as moderate rain and 64.5mm-115.5mm rain as heavy.

“Rain intensity is likely to increase due to weather systems in the Arabian Sea that are intensifying. Extremely heavy rain is expected for south Konkan while very heavy rain across isolated areas is expected for north Konkan, including Mumbai, in the coming days,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD.

Independent meteorologists said intense rain on Wednesday could lead to water-logging at low-lying areas. “Heavy rain is expected from Wednesday evening onwards due to an east-west shear zone coupled with an upper air circulation in the Arabian Sea. Some places could see intense rains of around 70mm-80mm while other areas may also witness three-digit rainfall figures over 24 hours,” said professor Sridhar Balasubramanian, department of Mechanical Engineering and IDP Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay.