MUMBAI: Heavy rains were reported in several areas of Mumbai for a brief period on Friday. The IMD said that while rain activity may subside for the weekend, it is expected to pick pace again around July 2-3. “With the strengthening of the westerly winds, we expect rain activity to revive next week. However, we are observing the models (weather) and will keep updating our forecast closer to next week,” said an IMD official.Since the onset of monsoon on June 9, the city is yet to witness any major rain activity. The month of June also witnessed below normal activity so far. The total rainfall recorded in June till now by IMD Colaba observatory is 466mm which is 30.5mm below normal, while the IMD Santacruz observatory recorded 288.3mm of rains, 193.7mm below normal. The normal rainfall for June in case of IMD Colaba is 542mm and for Santacruz 537.1mm.
On Friday, rainfall recorded through the day (8.30am-8.30pm) by the IMD Colaba observatory was 21.4 mm and Santacruz observatory was 28.1 mm. Some low lying areas in Kurla also saw water logging, but it did not lead to any major traffic disruptions. In its five-day forecast, IMD has issued a yellow alert, indicating heavy rains at isolated places for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar for June 30 and July 1, while for Raigad, an orange alert has been issued, indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall being likely at isolated places. For June 29, Saturday, a yellow alert for Thane and Palghar, while for Mumbai, only moderate rains have been forecast.