IMD warns of thunderstorms, heavy rain in Mumbai and surrounding districts in the next 3-4 hours

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and intense rain, with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 km/h likely to occur in isolated areas across Mumbai, Palghar, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Solapur, and Satara over the next 3-4 hours.

On Wednesday evening, a red alert was issued for Mumbai, Thane, and Raigad, signalling the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with lightning and strong winds in isolated locations.

Read more: Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and more Maharashtra districts to experience heavy rains: IMD's 5-day forecast, all you need to know


By Wednesday morning, Mumbai recorded 74 mm of rainfall within the 24-hour period ending at 8:30 AM on September 25. According to IMD's classification, this amount qualifies as heavy rain since it falls between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm. The city had already seen 75 mm of rain from September 23 to 24, bringing the total to 149 mm over the last 48 hours. The IMD's forecast indicates that this wet spell will persist.

The ongoing weather conditions are characterised by thunderstorms, resulting in brief but intense rain showers that have caused localised flooding. On Wednesday afternoon, the Andheri subway was temporarily closed due to waterlogging, with areas such as Mulund, Thane, Panvel, Kharghar, and Kamothe experiencing significant rainfall.

In addition, the water levels in Mumbai's lakes have surged past 99% capacity, amounting to 14.36 lakh million liters. By September 30, the total water stock in the seven lakes supplying the city must reach 14.47 lakh million liters to avoid water cuts for the remainder of the year. Over the past two years, water levels on the same date were also around 98-99%.

Inputs from agencies