Weather update: Rain, thunderstorms likely in Mumbai in next two days

Mumbai will further cool down in the next one or two days, with the Indian Meteorological Department predicting light and moderate rain and thunderstorms in the city. The temperature in the city has already dropped from 35 degrees Celsius a few days ago to 33.2 degrees. Meteorologists say monsoon in the country will gain momentum in the second half of this month.

In the next 24 to 48 hours the city will witness light and moderate rain activity along with thunderstorms in both city and suburbs," said an official from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). When each of the 60 per cent of the state's accessible weather stations records a rainfall of 2.5 mm or more for two consecutive days, the IMD declares the onset of monsoon.

Weather experts said monsoon has already advanced over most parts of Maharashtra, north Arabian sea, remaining parts of Konkan, some parts of Gujarat, most parts of Central Maharashtra, entire Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, some parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, west-central and northwest Bay of Bengal and is expected to advance further in the next 48 hours.

Rain in Bandra on Saturday evening. Pic/Atul Kamble

"With westerlies [wind blowing from the west] strengthening till 600-700 hPa level [sea level pressure] along the Karnataka coast, the SouthWest Monsoon further advanced up the west coast till South Konkan," confirmed Rajesh Kapadia of Vagaries of weather, a popular weather blog.

"Rain activities have already intensified over Centra Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha and parts of Telangana. Southern parts of Gujarat have also witnessed a few good spells of rain. East India, particularly Bihar and Jharkhand has been witnessing light scattered rain," said experts from Skymet Weather, a private weather forecasting agency.

Meteorologists have also predicted that the pre-monsoon activities will intensify over eastern parts of the country. Many parts of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand will witness moderate rain with few heavy spells by June 15 or 16. Pre-monsoon showers will gradually turn into monsoon rain, which will mark the onset of monsoon over East India.

Skymet added: "Between June 1 and June 11, the country is deficient by 43 per cent. We expect the second half of June to be much better and the rain deficit will improve."

June 11
Official onset of monsoon over Mumbai