Mumbai rains update: IMD issues orange alert for city, metropolitan region

Mumbai witnessed heavy rains on Friday morning/ Ashish Raje

Mumbai and the metropolitan region have been receiving substantial rainfall since the beginning of this week, following a brief dry spell in the first few weeks of September. The rains intensified on Friday (September 27) morning after it lulled on Thursday. Fog, too, had descended over the city.

In their Mumbai rains update, the India Meteorological Department indicated that the city and suburbs would experience "thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and heavy rainfall".

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The meteorological department predicted strong gusty winds of 40-50 kmph in the city and suburbs. The India Meteorological Department, in their Mumbai rains update, also stated that there was a "possibility of very heavy rainfall in isolated areas in the afternoon/evening".

The temperatures are expected to range from a maximum of 31 degrees Celcius to a minimum of 23 degrees Celcius, the IMD said.

The IMD has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts in their Nowcast warning, which will last until 1 pm today. Previously, the weather agency had issued a yellow alert to Raigad, Thane and Palghar districts and there was no alert for Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, in their Mumbai rains update, stated that a high tide of 2.96 metres would reach the city's coast at 9.08 pm, followed by a low tide of 2.05 metres at 3.21 pm.

On Wednesday (September 25), the city was virtually at a standstill due to rainfall, which caused waterlogging in various locations, resulting in traffic jams and train delays. According to meteorological statistics, the city and metropolitan region received enough rain that evening to bring Mumbai's September rainfall above the 350 mm monthly normal.

A 45-year-old woman died as a result of the severe rains that battered the city. The woman died after falling into a stormwater drain in Andheri's Seepz neighbourhood. A city-based activist previously told me that the rain had emphasised the necessity for strong infrastructure to handle crises like the one the city experienced on Wednesday. He claimed the Met Department was late in issuing the red alert.