Mumbai witnessed a strong spell of rainfall on Monday morning, July 20, after a prolonged dry period, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an orange alert for Tuesday, July 21. The weather agency has forecast heavy to extremely heavy showers in parts of Mumbai and neighbouring regions during the week.
The IMD initially issued multiple yellow nowcast warnings, but these were later upgraded to an orange warning due to the possibility of moderate to intense rain spells lasting up to three hours.
According to IMD Mumbai Chief Vikram Singh, rainfall activity is expected to increase from Tuesday. He said that Mumbai would remain under an orange alert, while areas including the Pune Ghats, Nashik Ghats, Palghar, and Raigad districts could also see a shift from Yellow to Orange warnings due to the possibility of heavy rainfall.
Mumbai has been receiving intermittent moderate showers since Saturday, but weather officials expect rainfall to become more intense from Tuesday indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places with occasional strong winds reaching 50-60 kmph. The IMD has issued a yellow warning for Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar until Wednesday morning, July 22, with chances of heavy rain in isolated areas.
Weather experts have noted that while the upcoming spell may bring significant rainfall, it is not expected to match the extreme intensity witnessed during the first week of July, when Mumbai experienced widespread heavy downpours.
The latest weather activity marks a return of stronger monsoon conditions after Mumbai received only scattered showers since July 10. During the first week of July, the city’s Santacruz weather station recorded more than 1,000 mm of rainfall between July 1 and July 7 as multiple weather systems combined to trigger intense showers across the Konkan region.
July remains Mumbai’s wettest month, with the city receiving an average rainfall of around 920 mm during the month.
Over the past 24 hours, rainfall levels varied significantly across the city. The Santacruz observatory recorded 88.4 mm of rain between 8:30 am Sunday and Monday, while the Colaba observatory recorded only 5.3 mm during the same period.
The renewed rainfall has also improved water storage levels in Mumbai’s seven lakes, which supply drinking water to the city. The combined lake reserves have increased to around 7.82 lakh million litres, reaching 54.05% of the total storage capacity.
As per IMD observations:
Rainfall recorded between 8 am on July 18 and 8 am on July 19:
Residents should remain alert as heavy showers could lead to waterlogging, traffic delays, and disruptions in low-lying areas. Commuters are advised to check weather updates before travelling and follow official IMD advisories during intense rainfall periods.