‘Thundershowers with lightning, gusty winds likely in Mumbai over the weekend’: IMD

The weather bureau issued a thunderstorm warning for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) for Saturday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday issued a ‘yellow alert’ predicting thundershowers with lighting and gusty winds - ranging between 30 and 40 kilometres per hour - at isolated areas in the city and suburbs. A similar alert has been issued for Palghar and Thane for Saturday and only for Thane for Sunday.

“Satellite images and weather models have indicated moderate to intense thunderstorms with lighting and heavy spells at isolated places in Maharashtra between October 3 and 4,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general, western region, India Meteorological Department.

“Development of these convective echoes was witnessed across some parts of Marathwada and central Maharashtra between Thursday and Friday, especially during evening hours. These thundershowers are short-lived and vary in intensity across different locations,” he said.

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On Friday, the city and suburbs did not receive any rain between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. The day temperature in south Mumbai was 32 degrees Celsius, a degree Celsius above normal, while the suburbs recorded 31.9 degrees Celsius, which was normal.

Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg could also expect thundershowers over the weekend. An ‘orange alert’ has been issued for north Maharashtra districts of Nandurbar, Dhule, and Nashik while various other areas in central Maharashtra, including Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, and Ahmednagar, can expect heavy to very heavy rain and thundershowers.

Satisfactory AQI on Friday

The pollutant-measuring indicator – air quality index (AQI) - was recorded at the satisfactory category at 68 for PM2.5 pollutant. It was 75 (satisfactory) on Thursday. It is predicted to be 63 on Saturday, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research.