Mumbai: Thunder, rains lash city after a hazy morning

Thunderstorms accompanied by rain were observed in some parts of the city late in the evening. This wet spell came after a largely dry week. The meteorological department had informed about a thick cloud patch to city's southwest, on Thursday morning. A very humid day and overcast sky conditions were forecast too.

"This is a regular phenomenon. Toward September-end city sees afternoons which are hot and then in the evening there is thunder and heavy rainfall in isolated places. This happens not only in the city but in other interior places as well. In the last 10 days of September and at times into October, retreating monsoons are expected," said Krishnanand Hosalikar, the Deputy Director General (Western Region) of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). "The high humidity and the ground which heats up both result in cloud formations and subsequent rainfall. But, all these formations can be detected by the doppler radar and the intensity of clouds and their direction can be tracked."

As per BMC, the sudden shower that occured in the city recorded a maximum rainfall of 39 mm in Rawali Camp (Sion) while there was no rain in eastern and western suburbs.

As per IMD, the cloudy weather is expected to prevail for two to three days at least. The visibility was low on Thursday morning due to a cloudy sky and haze. "The gusty winds which rise in this situation result in lifting the dry, loose dust which had settled during monsoon thus further reducing the visibility and causing poor air quality. However a spell of rainfall extending over a period of eight to 10 days will settle the dust again and improve the air quality." added Hosalikar.