PUNE: The India Meteorological Department has downgraded its “very heavy to heavy” rain forecast for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara to “heavy” rain on July 30. Now, the warning for heavy rains at isolated places is only restricted to Raigad, Ratnagiri, Pune (ghats) and Satara (ghats) for July 31, while Kolhapur has a light to moderate rain forecast on that day.
Mumbai and Thane now have a heavy rain forecast at isolated places on July 30, and light to moderate rains thereafter. Isolated places in Raigad and Ratnagiri have a heavy rain prediction till August 1.
The off-shore trough from South Maharashtra coast to north Kerala coast did not gain much strength and its area of influence did not extend to the entire Maharashtra coastline. Also, the westerly winds from the Arabian Sea have not been that strong. The realised spells in these districts (that were earlier put on a heavy to very heavy rain warning after July 29) remained restricted to only heavy rains.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather forecasting division, IMD Pune told TOI, “The well-marked low pressure area over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh with the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to upper tropospheric levels still persists. It is likely to move west-northwestwards across Jharkhand, south Bihar and southern parts of Uttar Pradesh during the next 48 hours. The westerly winds are also bringing in moisture to the state apart from the presence of the off-shore trough from South Maharashtra coast to north Kerala coast. These factors are this likely to cause heavy rains at isolated places in parts of Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra, including good rains in ghats of Pune and Satara districts for a couple of days.”
The revised forecast is likely to help Maharashtra’s flood affected districts, said state officials, as very heavy rain spells here could have put these regions at risk once again.
