The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall in coastal regions of India, including areas like Mumbai and Chennai.
The Met department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls very likely at isolated places over Madhya Maharashtra and Konkan & Goa and heavy rainfall at isolated places over Vidarbha, Gujarat Region, Marathawada, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Coastal & North Interior Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal.
Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning very likely to occur at isolated places over Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, the morning bulleting of IMD said.
Here are the updates
Mumbai rain forecast turns a damp squib
With the weather department issuing a ‘red alert’ for rain in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government declared a holiday for schools and colleges in the city on Thursday.
However, as people geared up to tackle the situation, the high rainfall warning turned out to be a damp squib as the city hardly received any showers till Thursday afternoon.
While the city received some showers late Wednesday night, it remained almost dry on Thursday.
Woman killed as wall collapses following heavy rain in Chennai
A woman was killed in Mannady on Thursday after a portion of a wall of her house collapsed following heavy rainfall in Chennai.
Rain lashed Chennai city and the adjoining districts of Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram from midnight. Many arterial roads are inundated and normal life of residents have been affected.
At 4 a.m, while the victim Zarina Begam was sleeping in her tiled house, a wall collapsed and fell on her. She died on the spot. Police and Fire and Rescue service personnel retrieved the body and sent it to Government Hospital.
In several parts of city, traffic has been affected due to waterlogging. Electricity supply has also been affected in a few areas.
Chennai experiences wettest day of the year
The city experienced its wettest day of the year yet on Thursday as thundershowers lashed several parts.
The weather station in Nungambakkam recorded 108 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. This is the highest volume of rainfall received in a single day during September over the past decade.
Chennai had earlier recorded 88 mm of rainfall on September 11, 2013.
An upper air circulation off south Andhra Pradesh coast aided widespread thunderstorm activity across Chennai and its neighbouring districts.
An uprooted tree on Brethapet Road, Vepery in Chennai on Thursday, September 19 2019
Heavy rains lashed several areas since early hours of Thursday, leading to waterlogging.
The rain gauge in Anna University showed 63 mm of rainfall. Many places in Tiruvallur district also recorded heavy rainfall. Tiruvallur recorded a high of 216 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours. The city reservoirs - Cholavaram (135mm) and Red Hills (96 mm) too recorded heavy downpours. However, it is yet to translate into inflow into lakes. "The lakes are receiving minimal inflow now and we need more rainy days for rise in storage," said an official of Water Resources Department.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department forecast that the same weather trend may continue till Friday.
Cloud cover provides temporary relief from sultry weather in Delhi
A thick cloud clover enveloped the national capital on Thursday morning, providing a much-needed relief to the city residents from the sultry weather. However, the weather department said the clouds were likely to dissipate as the day progressed and a very light rain might occur at a few places.
Delhi has been reeling under a long spell of high temperatures and humidity since September 8, when the city recorded 47.4 mm rains. Only brief spells of very light rainfall have occurred after that.
An IMD official said only very light, patchy rains were expected in the remaining days of September till the monsoon started withdrawing from the region. “Normally, the monsoon withdraws from the Delhi-NCR region around September 21. But this time, it is expected to retreat only around the month-end,” he said.
In September so far, the national capital has recorded 50.4 mm rains against the 30-year average of 94.9 mm -- a deficiency of 47%.
'Extremely heavy rainfall' forecast for Mumbai, Raigad
The IMD on Wednesday forecast “extremely heavy rainfall” on Thursday in Mumbai and adjoining Raigad district.
Water, water everywhere: Commuters stand in queue for autorickshaws on a waterlogged road near Ghatkopar station after heavy rainfall on Wednesday.
The IMD) has issued a red rain alert, indicating “extremely heavy rainfall”, for Mumbai and Raigad districts, said an IMD official.
This indicates a precipitation of more than 204 mm in 24 hours starting Thursday morning, he said.
While Mumbai would receive ‘heavy rainfall’ on Friday, Raigad will continue to receive extremely heavy showers that day also, the official added.
Schools, colleges closed in Mumbai
Education Minister Ashish Shelar announced on Twitter that schools and junior colleges in the city will remain closed as a precautionary measure.
IMD officials said with the formation of favourable weather systems, rainfall over the Konkan and its adjoining areas was likely to increase in the next two to three days.
“The reason for this rainy episode will be the formation of a cyclonic circulation over Madhya Maharashtra by tomorrow. In fact, this system is expected to move towards the Konkan region. Moist winds from the Arabian Sea will aid in increasing the rainfall activity,” said Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet. The private weather forecaster also warned of waterlogging in many parts of the city.
