Heavy rain in state till August 8: IMD

The IMD has put Pune, Satara, Nashik, Kolhapur, Palghar and Thane districts on alert with heavy rain expected till Thursday. The rainfall recorded between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Sunday in various cities was — Mahabaleshwar (135 mm), Nashik (98 mm), Satara (29 mm), Ratnagiri (22 mm), Sangli (21 mm), Mumbai and Kolhapur (19 mm each), Pune (12.9 mm) and Jalgaon (13 mm).

As the state continues to receive heavy rainfall, as on Sunday, the season has delivered 24 per cent surplus rain.

“The rainfall intensity will remain moderate to heavy over most parts of Maharashtra with widespread rains expected over Konkan and Goa till August 8. While Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha would experience widespread rain till Thursday, rainfall over Marathwada will reduce after August 5,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head, weather department, IMD,Pune.

Some cities that recorded heavy rain over the weekend include Mahabaleshwar (305 mm), Ratnagiri (153.6 mm), Mumbai (142 mm), Nahsik (98.5 mm), Jalgaon (52 mm), Kolhapur (50.7 mm), Satara (49.1 mm) and Akola (33.5 mm) till 8.30 am on August 4.

Officials at the IMD said there prevailed at least three weather systems that were causing such heightened rainfall.

Kashyapi said a trough ran between South Gujarat and Gangetic West Bengal due to which there has been continuous inflow of strong westerly winds blowing from the Arabian Sea . As a result, there is strong wind convergence over Gujarat and Maharashtra which have received pounding rain, Kashyapi added.