Mumbai received its heaviest pre-monsoon showers of the season on Friday night. The India Meteorological Department’s Santacruz East observatory recorded 56.8 mm rain in Mumbai, categorised as ‘rather heavy’, in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 AM on Saturday.
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South Mumbai received moderate-to-heavy rainfall, coupled with lightning, that continued till Saturday morning. The Met department’s Colaba observatory recorded 61.8 mm rain in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 AM. Light rain was recorded throughout Mumbai on Saturday as well. The pre-monsoon showers also brought down the city’s minimum temperature.
The weather agency has predicted the pre-monsoon showers to continue till Wednesday-Thursday. Its seven-day forecast suggests that the Maximum City will witness thundershowers from Tuesday evening.
The minimum temperature in Delhi, on the other hand, settled at 29.7°C, two notches above normal, amid predictions of partly cloudy skies with the possibility of light thunderstorms during the day. Private weather forecaster Skymet said isolated pockets of Delhi, northwest Rajasthan, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh were likely to experience heatwave conditions.
The Met department sees the maximum temperature in northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, dropping by a few notches over the weekend but has predicted no major relief till Wednesday.
The intense heat has also sparked concern over crop output in Punjab. With the state witnessing above-normal maximum temperatures in June, Punjab Agricultural University has issued an advisory to farmers on field crops and livestock.
Punjab Agricultural University Director of Extension Education Dr Ashok Kumar warned against the heat shock and increased water demand, The Indian Express reported. The advisory said newly germinated plants might be injured or killed by sunburn. It may also affect the growth and flowering in vegetable crops and may cause flower drop in moong.
The Met department has predicted heavy-to-very heavy rainfall in the northeastern states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and sub-Himalayan West Bengal during the next five days. Intense spells of rain are expected in the northeast and sub-Himalayan regions of Sikkim and West Bengal, like Kalimpong and Darjeeling.
On Friday, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma reviewed the situation in the Garo Hills, which has been hit by flooding and landslide.
In a related development, the southwest monsoon has advanced further into Karnataka, Goa, the Konkan region, and more parts of the central Arabian Sea, the Met department said on Friday. It has also predicted heavy rainfall in Goa, the Konkan region, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Karaikal, and Mahe.