Mumbai: In just the first six days of July, Mumbai has received more than its average rainfall for the month, with the IMD’s Colaba and Santacruz observatories recording 823.4 mm and 898.4 mm respectively. The average July rain for the two observatories is 734.1 mm and 855.7 mm.July is usually the wettest month in the year recording the highest rain, and on July 26, 2005, Mumbai’s Santacruz observatory had seen an unprecedented 944 mm of rain in a 24-hour period, which has never been met. However, the Colaba observatory logged its wettest July day in five decades between July 4-5 this year as 265. 6mm of rainfall was recorded in the area in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am Sunday.Since the onset of the monsoon, cumulative rainfall has reached 1,264.5 mm at Colaba and 1,314.8 mm at Santacruz. This means that within just the first fortnight of the season, Colaba has received nearly 60% of its average seasonal rainfall, while Santacruz has received around 57%.For Tuesday, an orange alert has been issued for Mumbai and Thane, warning of heavy to very heavy rain with strong winds. For Raigad and Palghar, a red alert stays, indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places.“Widespread rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy rainfall over a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places with strong winds reaching 70-80 kmph is very likely over Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra on July 6-7, with gradual reduction thereafter,” said IMD. Mumbai also recorded its sixth consecutive day of triple-digit rainfall in 24 hours ending Monday morning. The Colaba observatory logged 128 mm, while Santacruz recorded 159 mm. Rainfall from 8. 30am to 8.30 pm on Monday was 46.8 mm in Colaba and 83 mm in Santacruz. Rainfall data for the 24 hours ending July 6 also showed that areas surrounding Mumbai-including Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai and Palghar-got heavier rainfall than the city during the period.On Monday morning a red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar was issued by IMD for the day, stating that it was being done considering the impact of the winds. During early morning hours on Monday, between 7am and 8 am, the wind speed in Malabar Hill was 66kmph, in Reay Road 53 it was kmph, in Santacruz 49 kmph, Ghatkopar 42 kmph and Malad 47 kmph.“The active monsoon conditions over Mumbai are driven by a combination of favourable weather systems, including a persistent offshore trough from south Gujarat to the north Kerala coast, a shear zone over central India, and a depression over south Jharkhand and adjoining north interior Odisha. These systems are enhancing moisture inflow and strengthening monsoon activity along the west coast. The depression is expected to move northwestwards over next 24 hours, and its influence, coupled with the offshore trough, is likely to keep rainfall activity over Konkan coast, including Mumbai, active,” said IMD.
