Mumbai rains: IMD issues Yellow alert for the city on Friday

Crowds of commuters seen on the platform at Thane railway station on Thursday as trains were running late by 15-20 minutes. Pic/Satej Shinde

The red alert (extremely heavy rainfall) continues for Mumbai till Friday morning, after which a yellow alert (bad weather conditions with chances they may get worse) has been issued for the city by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Meanwhile, neighbouring Thane has been issued an orange alert (heavy to very heavy rainfall) even for Friday.

"Continuing with the red alert for Mumbai till 8.30 am on Friday since rain spells are continuing," said Sushma Nair, a scientist with IMD's Mumbai regional meteorological centre (RMC) at Colaba.

In July, Mumbai recorded three-digit precipitation in 24 hours on five occasions. The 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Thursday witnessed more than 200 mm of rainfall. According to the IMD, its Colaba observatory recorded 223 mm of rain during the period, while the Santacruz observatory recorded 145 mm. The city has been lashed by non-stop rains over the last 48 hours.

Private weather forecaster Skymet Weather Services has predicted that rainfall activity is expected to reduce on Friday, which means Mumbai will gradually see a reduction in rain. A big relief is expected around Saturday.

According to the IMD, between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Thursday, the Colaba observatory recorded 85.8 mm rain while Santacruz recorded 75.8 mm.

223mm
Precipitation in Colaba in 24 hours