A wet Bhandup station on Wednesday. Mumbaikars can expect rain on Thursday as well
MUMBAI: December started on a wet note for Mumbaikars, setting two new points. While the city recorded its second-highest 24-hour rainfall for the month on Wednesday, the unseasonal rain sent the maximum temperature dropping 9 degrees Celsius to the second lowest in December in a decade.
An IMD scientist attributed the rains to a cyclonic circulation over southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Lakshadweep which now lies over southeast and east-central Arabian Sea. The IMD said that the rain is expected to continue on Thursday as well.
IMD’s Santa Cruz observatory recorded 41.6 mm and Colaba 43.2 mm in the 12-hour period ending at 8.30 pm on Wednesday. The highest rainfall of 53 mm was recorded in 2017 as the cyclone moved closer to the coast of the city of Ockhi.
In the afternoon, BMC’s automated weather stations recorded maximum rainfall in the eastern suburbs. Dadar and Dahisar stations recorded 21 mm of rain and Vikhrohali AWS 22.4 mm between 2 pm and 6 pm. Municipal officials said there were no complaints of waterlogging and train and vehicular traffic was not affected.
Rains brought down the mercury, with both Santa Cruz and Colaba recording a maximum temperature of 24.8 degrees Celsius, down from Tuesday’s 33.3 degrees Celsius and 8.4 degrees below normal. In fact, there was hardly any difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures; Santacruz recorded a minimum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius and Colaba 24.5 degrees Celsius.
Effect of December rain: Fishermen warn, farmers worried
A tweet from the handle @Francis_Joseph read, “I slept in Mumbai last night and woke up in Mahabaleshwar this morning. Everything changed overnight outside my house, #MumbaiRains thanks to #ClimateChange.”
IMD scientist Shubhangi Bhute said fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea as rain/thundershowers are likely to continue over Palghar, Thane, Raigad and Mumbai till Thursday.
Meanwhile, grape, onion and vegetable farmers are worried due to unseasonal rains in Nashik district. Unseasonal rains can have an adverse effect on fruit budding, flowering and harvesting at different stages. Ganesh said, “We just cannot understand the weather. We had to wait almost till August (two months in monsoon season) for good rain, and now we are two months into winter (December) and it is raining ” Patil from Niphad Taluka.
Jagannath Khapre, President, Grape Exporters Association of India said, “While farmers are harvesting grapes in North Nashik, in Niphad, Nashik, Dindori the grapes are in flowering stage. Due to rain and cold the ready fruits are breaking. Staying in water for five hours at flowering stage can lead to rot. What will farmers do now?
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