Mumbai: Brace for very heavy rain today

A woman crosses a road amid heavy rain in Vikhroli on Monday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Mumbai and Thane are expected to receive "heavy to very heavy" rainfall at a few places on Wednesday, the Indian Meteorological Department has said. It has declared a Red alert - extremely heavy rainfall - at isolated pockets in Palghar district. The IMD has predicted heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms across Maharashtra over the next four days. The Orange alert for Mumbai and Thane today comes a day before the start of the Ganpati festival.

Sindhudurg and Dhule are on Orange alert on Wednesday as well. Heavy rainfall is expected across the entire Konkan belt up until September 11 due to the formation of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal which has now moved to over south Chattisgarh, said IMD. It said the well-marked low-pressure area and its remnants are "very likely to move North West over the next 4-5 days". A Yellow alert - heavy rain - has also been issued for Mumbai on Thursday. Authorities have instructed fishermen not to venture out to sea.

An IMD official told mid-day, "The impact of today's Orange alert will be higher as compared to yesterday's and will bring along with it heavy to very rainfall for the city of Mumbai. What we have seen so far this monsoon is that rainfall in Mumbai starts late at night and within 3-4 hours, it finishes its entire rainfall quota of the day. The favourable synoptic situation is likely to cause heavy to very heavy rainfall on Wednesday. The rainfall activity will be reduced over the city after September 9."

Ratnagiri and Raigad could go to Orange alert

The official further said, "Ratnagiri and Raigad were on Red alert on Tuesday but they are likely to go back to Orange on Wednesday. However, Palghar is likely to receive heavy rainfall within the next two days and is on Red alert.

This is because the shear zone of the low-pressure area over Chattisgarh will shift a little bit towards the north. The weather system is moving towards Gujarat…which is why Palghar and South Gujarat will also most likely receive extremely heavy rainfall."