Heavy rain likely on Wednesday in Mumbai, red alert for Thursday in Mumbai, Thane

MUMBAI: Mumbai and Thane will have to brace themselves for yet another spell of ‘extremely heavy rain at isolated places’ as the IMD has issued a ‘red’ alert warning for Thursday. For Wednesday, there is a ‘yellow’ alert, indicating ‘heavy rains at isolated places’.
Weathermen said the westward movement of a low pressure is likely to bring significant rain for the city. Nitha Sasidharan, a scientist from IMD Mumbai, said the warnings issued are based on the present weather conditions.“In view of the formation of a low pressure area over the west central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of coastal Andhra Pradesh during next 24 hours and its likely westward movement, parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, are very likely to witness active monsoon conditions with enhanced rainfall activity,” she said adding that they may update the forecast, if required.
The IMD also updated its heavy rain forecast to ‘red’ alert in Madhya Maharashtra ghats for Wednesday, and the Konkan region for Thursday.
On Tuesday, heavy to moderate rain inundated parts of Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Dombivli resulting in traffic jams at several spots including Kalyan-Bhiwandi Road near Kalyan phata, Sion-Panvel Highway, Uran Road and Turbhe-Nerul service road adjoining Juinagar station.
While Navi Mumbai recorded an average 54mm rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Thane received an average 27.4mm. In Mumbai, the IMD Colaba observatory recorded 18.6mm rainfall in the 12-hour period ending 8.30pm, and the IMD Santacruz observatory recorded 3.4mm.
The month of September, so far, has witnessed very intense rain activity, recording 913.9mm rainfall till Tuesday. The all-time highest September rainfall—920mm—was recorded in 1954.
The IMD Santacruz observatory is 6.3mm short of breaching the all-time highest September rain of 920mm. The total rainfall recorded this monsoon till Tuesday is 3467.6mm—1391.7mm above normal. The IMD Colaba observatory has recorded a total 2399.8mm rainfall this monsoon season—503.4 mm above normal.
The IMD has also issued warnings to fisherman and advised them not to venture into the sea on Wednesday and Thursday. “Strong winds with a speed reaching 40-50kmph are likely to prevail over western parts of west central and southwest Arabian sea during next three days (September 17-19) and therefore fisherman warning has been issued,” said a weather official.