Mumbai on Orange Alert, Braces For Heavy Rain For Next 3 Days; Red Alert in Other Parts of Maharashtra

Mumbai is on high alert as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a spell of heavy to very heavy rainfall for the city and its surrounding areas starting today and continuing for the next two days . In its forecast released on Friday, the weather agency placed Mumbai, along with the neighboring districts of Palghar, Thane, and Raigad, under an orange alert until September 29, warning of moderate rain accompanied by light thunderstorms and gusty winds .

While the Mumbai metropolitan region prepares for the downpour, several other districts in Maharashtra are facing a more severe red alert . The IMD has issued a red alert for Jalna, Beed, and Solapur, indicating the possibility of moderate to intense rainfall, thunderstorms, and strong surface winds in parts of these areas . Most of the state remains under either a yellow or orange alert, with widespread moderate rain expected .

The weather system is not limited to Maharashtra. The IMD has also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall on Saturday in isolated areas of Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Konkan and Goa, north interior Karnataka, Odisha, and Telangana . Heavy showers are also expected at isolated places across Andhra Pradesh, coastal Karnataka, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal .

In addition to rain, thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds speeding up to 40-50 kmph are very likely in parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, and Telangana . Similar conditions, with slightly lower wind speeds of 30-40 kmph, are expected in Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala, and Odisha . The IMD has also issued a warning for fishermen, with squally winds reaching speeds of 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph likely to prevail over parts of the southwest and adjoining west-central Arabian Sea .