Mumbai weather: city sees thunderstorms and rain; more showers in next 2 days, says IMD

In the neighbouring Palghar district, the wind speeds are forecast to touch 50- 60 kmph. “Take precautions while moving out,” said IMD Mumbai in a bulletin issued Wednesday morning.

According to IMD, the Mumbai Metropolitan region is slated to experience rain and thunderstorms over at least the next two days, with a yellow alert sounded in Mumbai until Thursday morning at least. IMD has also issued a nowcast warning of light rain in isolated pockets of the Mumbai district over the next 3 to 4 days.

Data furnished by the weather bureau showed that IMD’s Santacruz observatory and Colaba coastal station Tuesday logged a maximum temperature of 34 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature also touched 29 degree Celsius — more than two degrees above the normal — Tuesday morning.

After reeling under above normal temperatures throughout the day, Mumbai saw a respite as gusty winds swept several pockets of the city Tuesday night. Many pockets of the island city, as well as the eastern and western suburbs ranging from Dahisar to Andheri, Powai, and Lalbaug, were amongst other places which witnessed gusty winds, followed by thunder activity and lightning. Soon after, spells of moderate rainfall lashed across the city and neighbouring districts like Thane.

After the rain Tuesday night, suburban train services and traffic took a hit, with services running late. According to Indian Railways officials, some local trains were temporarily regulated, held up as a piece of cloth was reported hanging over the Overhead Equipment (OHE) on the Dahisar up line. Some areas also witnessed tree collapses.

Late on Tuesday, the Mumbai traffic police said traffic was impacted in Dadar after a tree collapse was reported near Agar Bazar junction.

Indicating that rain activity is here to stay, IMD placed Mumbai as well as several other districts in the Konkan region under a ‘yellow alert’ until Thursday morning owing to the possibility of ‘thunderstorms accompanied with lightning, light to moderate rainfall & gusty winds’. While no warnings have been sounded in Mumbai following Thursday, for now, meteorologists have said that the city may continue to experience cloudy skies with drizzle until Friday.

Experts have attributed the unseasonal showers to a ‘very strong’ western disturbance system in the lower levels, which is forecast to influence the weather conditions in Konkan this week. According to IMD, Western Disturbance, which was previously over central Pakistan, is currently over West Rajasthan and the neighbourhood. In some respite from the May heat, the weather system is likely to spur a drop in temperatures by at least 2 to 3 degrees in the coming days.

Besides Mumbai, isolated pockets of North Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada experienced thunderstorms with hail Monday.

The Konkan region is prone to recording pre-monsoon showers during April and May. Data furnished by IMD shows that in 2024, Mumbai received 21.3 mm of rainfall in May, and logged 3.4 mm of rainfall in 2023. Records also show that its wettest May was recorded in 2000, when the city received 388 mm of rainfall in the month, while its heaviest downpour in a single day was registered on May 18, 2021, when the Santacruz station logged 230 mm of rainfall.