Brace for intense rainfall in Maharashtra this weekend, says IMD

The Southwest monsoon has covered all of Maharashtra six days after its onset over the State. On Wednesday, the Northern Limit of Monsoon passed through Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Khandwa, Gondia, Durg, Bhawanipatna, Kalingapatanam, Balurghar and Supaul after its latest second consecutive day of advance.

Last year, the monsoon had covered the state within four days on June 10 after an early onset.

However, this time, since the onset last week, rainfall over Maharashtra and Goa has largely remained subdued. Since June 1, Maharashtra recorded 32.5 mm against a normal of 76.2 mm of rains, which is a deficit of 57 per cent (till June 15). Most districts continue to remain dry and are presently either in the “deficient” or “large deficiency” category.

This scenario is soon set to change with IMD forecasting enhancement in the rainfall over Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, including Pune, regions from June 19 onwards. “The monsoon rainfall will pick up over the state from Sunday as strong westerly winds from the Arabian Sea are likely to bring moisture over this region. Besides, there is a likely development of an off-shore trough along the west coast, aiding an increase in rainfall activity,” Anupam Kashyapi, the head of weather forecasting division at IMD Pune, said.

Marathwada and Vidarbha will come under the influence of the moisture laden winds from the Bay of Bengal and rainfall will pick up from Saturday. Here, the monsoon arrived on Thursday.

As on Wednesday, the monsoon had covered more parts of Arabian Sea, Gujarat, entire Maharashtra, some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, some areas of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and west-central Bay of Bengal. So far, the monsoon progress has been normal.

According to IMD’s latest weather forecast, the conditions are favourable for the further advancement of the monsoon into remaining Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand and sub-Himalayan West Bengal, more parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by weekend.