Dry spell to stay as IMD predicts only light showers for next few days

The data furnished by the IMD showed that between Sunday and Monday morning, the Santacruz observatory received 0.5 mm rains whereas the Colaba coastal station registered 0.2 mm rain. Owing to the rain deficit in June and July, the city’s Santacruz station is presently reeling under a shortfall of 169 mm rain while the coastal observatory has clocked in 381 mm of deficit from the actual normal rainfall.

According to the weather bureau, Mumbai and neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar will only receive light to moderate rainfall till Friday. Meanwhile, the districts of Raigad and Ratnagiri have been placed under a yellow alert amid the possibility of ‘thunderstorms accompanied with lightning, light to moderate rainfall and gusty winds at the speed of 30 – 40 kmph’ at isolated places.

Even so, the IMD — in its long-range forecast for the country — has said that above-normal rainfall (>106% of Long Period Average) will continue across the country in the second half of the southwest monsoon season between August and September.

August, for Mumbai, is considered a break period for the monsoon season. Of the 2,319 mm rain typically recorded in the city between June and September, the city’s suburban station receives 566 mm average rain in August while the Colaba station receives 482 mm rainfall.