The welcome downpour brought much-needed relief, though tragedy struck Palghar on Thursday morning, with the deaths of two women, Gangi Karbad (45) and Gulabi Dandekar (55), who had gone fishing in a river in Dahanu. Their bodies were found in separate locations. In 12 hours till 8.30 pm on Thursday, the IMD‘s Santacruz observatory recorded 106 mm rainfall, and Colaba 49.2 mm. The northern suburbs, including Vasai (118 mm) and Virar (131 mm), experienced considerably more rainfall compared to Mumbai.
Across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), rain, which commenced early on Thursday morning, continued steadily throughout the day, resulting in minor traffic disruptions. Subways in Andheri and Malad were temporarily closed during the evening, but the authorities deployed pumps to expedite water receding efforts.
The IMD attributed triple-digit rainfall to the presence of an east-west shear zone running roughly along latitude 19° N in middle tropospheric levels, extending across north Maharashtra, south Chhattisgarh, and south Odisha. Mumbai is situated at latitude 18.9° N. In its forecast, the IMD has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai, parts of Thane, and Palghar for Friday, signalling the likelihood of heavy rains and thunderstorm activity at isolated locations.
Abhijit Modak, an independent forecaster operating the Konkan Weather blog, predicted the resurgence of rain to align with Janmashtami celebrations. “A low-pressure area in the Arabian Sea, which formed on September 5 along the south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coast, moved in a west-northwest direction. The moisture from this system, combined with favorable wind patterns, reached Mumbai’s latitude, triggering the revival of rain. Despite the system’s formation two days ago, the city remained dry due to persistent dry air from the north. At present, we anticipate this wet spell to persist until September 9,” he said.
Shivam Khandelwal, another weather enthusiast who manages the Mumbai Nowcast handle on X (formerly Twitter), indicated that parts of Vasai and Virar could witness triple-digit rainfall within the next 24 hours. Khandelwal reassured the public, stating, “There is no need to panic at this time, as we can expect typical Mumbai rains. The wet spell may contribute to reaching the average monthly rainfall in the coming days.”
