Mumbai: The hot and humid weather will prevail in the city this month, but there’s a possibility of thunderstorms too. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorms and rainfall in several districts, including the adjoining Thane and Palghar, beginning May 6, bringing potential relief from the sweltering conditions that have gripped the state.
IMD scientist Sushama Nair said the heat, coupled with humidity showing moisture in the air, is indicative of the monsoon setting in. “This is a normal feature every May, ahead of the first week of June,” she explained.

Mumbai’s official monsoon onset date is June 10.
Sunil Kamble, who retired as IMD Mumbai chief on March 30, agreed that there is a possibility of thunderstorms over the next few days.
Mumbai’s temperature will remain around 35C due to moist westerly winds from across the coast, said Nair, adding that such weather suggested that larger phenomena, li-ke Mascarene High, heat low, and jet-stream, which are resp-onsible and indicative of monsoon activation, are working.
On Friday, the maximum temperatures recorded by IMD’s Santacruz and Colaba observatories were 34.4C and 34.2C, respectively,
even as several locations across Maharashtra sizzled with temperatures hitting or surpassing 40°C. Akola recorded the highest temperature in the state at a scorching 44.9°C. Solapur recorded 44.7°C, Jalgaon 43.9°C, Pune’s Lohegaon area 43.2°C, Satara 40.9°C and Shivajinagar 40.6°C.
IMD Pune scientist SD Sanap explained that hot conditions were caused by an anti-cyclonic circulation over the region, which is now dissipating. “Westerly winds from the Arabian Sea will be penetrating the region, bringing moisture at upper levels, while we are also getting winds from the Bay of Bengal at lower levels. This is likely to create atmospheric instability which will cause convective rain in the coming days,” he said.
According to IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre Mumbai’s five-day district forecast, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ahilyanagar, Ghats of Pune, Nashik, Satara, Chhatrapati Shambhajinagar, Jalna, and Beed among others will experience thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, with light to moderate rain and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph at isolated places from May 6.
(Inputs by Pune bureau)