A bright sun shone over Mumbai even as sparse clouds rose in the horizon a day after the deluge on Tuesday even as the Met kept out a watch for a depression over Gujarat. The respite came early this morning even as the India Met Department extended the watch for the depression by a day until tomorrow.
Constant watch kept
The parent well-marked low-pressure area shifted base overnight from South-West Madhya Pradesh to Central Gujarat, where it was located this morning and stayed put at noon.
India Met Department expects it to intensify into a depression over the same area, a process which could spark off another round of heavy to very heavy showers over Gujarat, and Mumbai-Konkan. But some meteorologists are of the view that the very act of extending the watch for system upgrade amounts to lack of confidence in its strength and intensity. Nevertheless, there is a need to constantly monitor it, especially in view of its proximity to the sea waters (Arabian Sea), from which it sources the moisture feed to sustain itself.
One other factor that necessitates vigil over the area is the prospect of formation of a mid-tropospheric cyclonic circulation (MTC), a hyperactive weather system capable of generating humongous rainfall.
An MTC would cause extended rainfall for longer than what a conventional monsoon system can, over Gujarat and adjoining Central India, in association with an incoming 'low' from the Bay of Bengal.
Satellite maps in the morning showed some relent in the cloud build-up, though a massive bank was seen over Porbandar (South-West Gujarat) and adjoining North-East Arabian Sea.
CLOUD COVER
The mass of heavy cloud was confined at noon over Porbandar, Jamnagar, Morbi and Gandhidham in South-West Gujarat even as fresh clouds drifted towards Diu.
Cloud bands breaking out of the thick mass off Porbandar were also seen pushing towards the Mumbai-Vasai-Valsad-Surat belt.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls at isolated places over Gujarat and heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places over Konkan and Goa for today.
Squally winds with speeds of 40- to 50 km/hr and gusting to 60 km/hr along are likely and off the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast, given the depression watch. Fishermen have been advised caution.
Heavy rain has been forecast also for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, South Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, the North-Eastern States, Madhya Maharashtra, and Coastal and South Interior Karnataka.
Forecasts suggested no major relief tomorrow either with heavy to very heavy rain being forecast for Gujarat; Konkan & Goa; Uttarakhand; Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi; Uttar Pradesh; hills of Bengal; Odisha; and the North-Eastern States.
Meanwhile, a US weather tracker has said that the 'weather factory' of Bay of Bengal would resume activity into the first week of September off the Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha coasts.