Moderate rain alert in Pune for weekend, Pashan receives 11.4mm in 9 hours

PUNE: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday forecast heavy to very heavy rain in the ghat areas in and around the district over the next 48-72 hours and moderate showers with occasional spells in the city.
The western parts of the city received more rainfall than the rest of Pune. The IMD’s Pashan station registered 11.4mm of rainfall from 8.30am to 5.30pm. Shivajinagar and Lohegaon received 9.8mm and 8.6mm of rainfall, respectively, during the period.
The maximum temperature at Shivajinagar also dropped to 25.3ºC, two notches below normal. Humidity also remained high throughout the day. Areas in the Western Ghats were pounded by heavy to very heavy rain in some areas till Thursday morning. Lonavala received 140mm of rainfall till 8.30am. Areas such as Shirgaon received 210mm of showers during the same period. Till Thursday evening, Mahabaleshwar received 78mm of rain.
The red alert issued for Thursday has now been downgraded to an “orange” alert for the ghat areas till August 17. This implies that most ghat areas may receive heavy rain, with isolated areas likely to witness very heavy rain ranging from 65mm to 200mm.
“The low pressure formed over north-west Bay of Bengal is converging with westerly winds from the Arabian Sea, which is bringing moisture into Maharashtra. Along with that, an upper air cyclonic circulation has formed over southern Gujarat, which is causing heavy rainfall in much of the region around Goa, central Maharashtra, and Konkan,” Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather at IMD Pune, said in a statement.