Mumbai Rains: Thunderstorms lash Mumbai, BMC urges people to ‘not panic’
Mumbai was engulfed in a cover of darkness around 4:30 pm (Picture Courtesy: Anuj K)
In a rare occurrence, parts of Mumbai were engulfed in darkness as early as 4:30 pm on Friday as heavy rains and thunderstorms continued to lash the city.
Yesterday, the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) had warned of thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places over Maharashtra, East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gangetic Bengal and Odisha.
An earlier update by the weather department, issued at 2 pm today, also mentioned a strong possibility of thunderstorms at evening and night.
However, unlike previous spells of heavy rain and thunderstorms this monsoon, today’s weather took people by surprise as parts of the city were covered in darkness – akin to 7 or 8 pm – as early as 4:30 pm.
Although the sudden appearance of a thick cloud cover was enough to alarm citizens, the BMC’s Disaster Management Department has urged people not to panic.
at 1630 hrs: Please don’t get panic – Disaster Management Department
— Disaster Management (@DisasterMgmtMum) October 6, 2017
A warning for high tide post midnight has also been issued.
Meanwhile, the IMD forecast for Mumbai city and suburbs for the next 24 hours also warns about the possibility of thundershower tomorrow evening and night. A similar warning was issued by the BMC at 5 pm today.
Rainfall expected to cool things down
With daytime temperatures hovering around the 36 degree Celsius mark, the rainfall is expected to bring some respite to millions of city-dwellers, who have been facing scorching heat and hot weather over the last few days.
The US Climate Prediction Centre also said in an update that theMadden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) wave would pass over the Indian Ocean during the week from October 4 to 10 and ‘favourably’ affect weather over India.
Pictures
Although no major rail or road traffic disruptions have been reported till now, hundreds of netizens have taken to social media to share pictures of the gloomy weather.
#Maharashtra Heavy rainfall lashes Mumbai pic.twitter.com/WEb8AihD8c
— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2017
#MumbaiRains #mumbaiweather sudden storm and rains! Change in weather pic.twitter.com/Ocl2z2IjJ8
— Rahul Shrivastava (@rahul_seo) October 6, 2017
Darkness engulfs, heavy downpour in Lower Parel area of #mumbai. Feels strange, it’s quite dark outside at late afternoon. #MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/6Mcm0c8d2M
— Megha Prasad (@MeghaSPrasad) October 6, 2017
#MumbaiRains Free Way !! Live.@RidlrMUM @mumbaitraffic @smart_mumbaikar
Drive Safe Be Safe ! ? pic.twitter.com/3049dRYKWQ— TApAn pAnDyA ★ (@iamTapanPandya) October 6, 2017
This report has been covered in a shortened or snippet format to ensure the most crucial information is published in the shortest possible time. The report may be expanded to a full length article if the story develops further or more information becomes available.
