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Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 7 (PTI): Pre-monsoon showers hit parts of Mumbai and Thane today at around 4 pm, much to the delight of heat harried citizens.
The rains lashed parts of Kalyan, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Badlapur, Kamothe, New Panvel, Kharghar, Belapur and south mumbai for a good 15 to 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s spirits were lifted with early morning pre-monsoon showers in many parts of the city. While the rains were heavy in Dadar, Parel, Lalbaug, Bandra, Mahim, Sion and Mulund, the intensity of rain was low in other areas.
The day, however, remained cloudy giving the city some respite from the sweltering heat. Mumbai is expected to remain cloudy with showers and thunderstorms expected in continuous intervals for the next 48 hours.
People on the streets of Panvel scurried for cover, smiling nevertheless as they looked skywards to thank the rain gods.
The India Meteorological Department is closely monitoring a depression that has developed over the Arabian Sea and is expected to turn into a "deep depression", bringing heavy rains in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.
Such a phenomenon affects the progress of monsoon, weather experts said.
IMD is yet to term it as a "cyclonic storm", but Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, has said that the "depression" has already developed into a "deep depression" and is rapidly gaining strength showing features of a "tropical storm".
"Latest satellite imagery and observations indicate that a depression has formed over east-central Arabian Sea and lay centred at 08:30 hours IST on Sunday, June 7, about 690 km southwest of Mumbai, 740 km south-southwest of Veraval (Gujarat) and 1230 km southeast of Masirah Island (Oman).
"It would move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a deep depression during next 24 hours. Strong winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would prevail along and off Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa coasts during next 48 hours. Sea condition would be rough along and off Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa coasts during the same period," IMD said.
It has categorised cyclones in various degrees, starting with "depression" and "deep depression", followed by a "cyclonic storm".
"We are monitoring the progress of the depression. It would be difficult to say if this would affect the progress of monsoon. At times, such patterns help give more moisture to the monsoon winds and help in progress.
"But there have been times when it has affected the progress of monsoon. Last year, cyclonic storm Nanauk in ArabianOcean affected the progress of monsoon. It was supposed to hit Mumbai by June 10, but finally arrived on June 15," said Krishnanand Hosalikar, Deputy Director General, IMD.