Rain expected to intensify Sunday night, IMD says

MUMBAI: The city experienced occasional showers on Saturday, with several areas receiving up to 40mm of rainfall. Heavier rain is expected ahead, the IMD has issued yellow alerts for Sunday and Monday, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas. Most rainfall was observed in Marol, Kurla, Matunga, Dadar, and Prabhadevi.

As per IMD data, Santacruz recorded 33mm of rainfall and Colaba 25mm in the 24-hour period ending at 8:30am on Saturday. The city received 44.7mm, the eastern suburbs 41.89mm, and the western suburbs 26.68mm during this period.

Sushma Nair, a scientist at IMD Mumbai, commented, “Rainfall has decreased today, but we expect it to intensify Sunday night and persist through Monday due to strengthening westerlies and offshore winds. We are closely monitoring wind patterns for further developments. Afterward, rainfall is expected to subside for a few days.”

Temperatures in Santacruz peaked at 31.3 degrees Celsius with humidity at 81%, while Colaba recorded a maximum of 31.6 degrees Celsius with 80% humidity. In contrast, rain in Mumbai’s catchment areas remained minimal, with water levels in the city’s lakes at a critically low 5.43% (78,579 million litres). This marks the lowest water levels in the last three years, compared to 8.94% in 2023 and 10.16% in 2022.