Monsoon is yet to arrive in Pune. What was behind the heavy rain this morning?

Pune city is also expected to get heavy to intense rainfall between June 9-12 with the IMD in the process of issuing necessary guidelines and alerts.

On Thursday, monsoon arrived in Maharashtra with parts of Konkan and Kolhapur receiving rainfall. (Express file photo)

Pune woke up on Friday to overcast skies which soon gave way to “monsoon-type” rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is yet to officially declare the advent of monsoon in the city but the rain and overcast skies have given a much-needed relief from the sweltering heat of the past few days.

On Thursday, monsoon arrived in Maharashtra with parts of Konkan and Kolhapur receiving rainfall. The monsoon arrived a day ahead of its scheduled date of arrival in Maharashtra and is expected to cover the state within the next 48 hours. Rainfall has been medium to intense at various places.

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Meanwhile, experts said the rain in Pune was due to the slow northward movement of a cloud mass over the region. This would cause heavy to very heavy rain over Konkan and adjacent ghats of Madhya Maharashtra. Pune city is also expected to get heavy to intense rainfall between June 9-12 with the IMD in the process of issuing necessary guidelines and alerts. In the past 24 hours, Shivajinagar has received 14.3 mm of rainfall and more is expected in the next few days.

IMD has predicted above-normal monsoon for India and Maharashtra. This would be a much-needed relief in the state which has seen water scarcity, fodder crisis, and agrarian distress looming large. Good rainfall will provide the much-needed boost for the upcoming cropping cycle and also wipe out the water scarcity woes.

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