Mumbai Rain: Nowcast Warning For Thane, Palghar After Dust Storm; Ops At Mumbai Airport Suspended

Mumbai Rain: India's financial capital Mumbai today witnessed massive dust storm with dark skies as the city experienced season's first rain. The sudden weather change in Mumbai disrupted road, rail and air traffic requiring cautionary advisory. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai has issued a "nowcast warning" forecasting a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and moderate to intense spells of rain for Thane, Palghar and  Mumbai. Flight operations at Mumbai International Airport on Monday were reportedly suspended for at least 30 minutes. An official of the Mumbai Airport authority confirmed that the flight operations were halted for half an hour due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, a heavy dust storm accompanied with a heavy rainfall in Mumbai, Thane and other adjoining areas were witnessed on Monday. Thundershowers, lightning and gusty winds were also experienced, which brought some major relief from the scorching heat. "Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and light to moderate spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph is very likely to occur at isolated places in Mumbai in the next 3-4 hours," an official of IMD said.

Mumbai Rains: Yellow Alert For Thane, Palghar & Mumbai

The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) has issued a yellow alert for Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Solapur, Latur, Beed, Nagpur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.

In its local forecast for Mumbai city and suburbs for the next 24 hours, the regional meteorological center said in a post on X in Marathi, "Unsettled cloudy sky with possibility of light rain/thundershower in evening/night. Maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 35°C and 28°C respectively."

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said isolated hailstorm activity is very likely to occur over Madhya Pradesh on May 13 and 14 and in parts of Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada on May 13. “Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Madhya Maharashtra on 13th May, 2024," the weather department said.

A press release by the IMD also informed on Monday that "hailstorm activity [was] observed [during past 24 hours till 8:30 an on Monday] at isolated places over Jammu-Kashmir, Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Telangana and Madhya Maharashtra."

Mumbai Local Services Affected 

Suburban services on Central Railway were affected after an overhead equipment pole between Thane and Mulund stations got bent due to strong winds, an official said. The suburban services on the Main Line have been suspended, the chief spokesperson of Central Railway said. While the unseasonal showers brought some respite from the scorching heat, power outages were reported in Kalwa in Thane district and some other areas.

Apart from this, incidents of trees falling were also reported in some places.

Rains coupled with gusty winds were witnessed in the suburbs of Dadar, Kurla, Mahim, Ghatkopar, Mulund and Vikhroli, while parts of south Mumbai saw drizzles.

The satellite towns of Thane, Ambernath, Badlapur, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar also received moderate showers with gusty winds. 

Video: Netizens Capture Moment When Mumbai Is Engulfed By Dust Storm

As the massive dust storm hit Mumbai on Monday, several videos of the dust storm and the rainfall surfaced on social media captured by the netizens. One such video captured the collapse of a huge hoarding board on a petrol pump in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area due to strong winds causing injuries to several people and damaging vehicles. 

Confirming the incident of hoarding collapse, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated that the incident was reported at around 4.30 pm at a petrol pump. The incident took place near a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar, Sector-3 in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar.

It is being stated that due to the collapse of the hoarding on the petrol pump, several people are said to be trapped under it. On information, the local police along with the concerned authorities rushed to the spot and a rescue operation was initiated.

As per the sources, around 35 people are reported to be injured in the incident. 

Mumbai International Airport Limited Issues Statement

Following the rainfall and dusty storms leading to the suspension of flights at Mumbai Airport, the MIAL issued a statement, saying, “Due to the inclement weather and dust storms in the city, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) temporarily suspended flight operations for around 66 min due to low visibility and gusty winds. Operations resumed at 17.03 hrs. During this time, the airport witnessed 15 diversions. CSMIA last week completed its pre-monsoon runway maintenance successfully, ensuring safe and smooth aircraft operations. Committed to efficiency and passenger safety, the airport remains steadfast to prioritize seamless operations.”