IMD issues red alert for Pune on September 25
After a 20-day dry spell that led to a serious rainfall deficit in Pune in September, the rainfall activity has again picked up in Pune city and the ghat areas
While Shivajinagar recorded 19.2 mm of rainfall till 5.30 pm on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) changed the rainfall alert for Pune from orange on September 24 to red on September 25. The city is likely to experience heavy to isolated intense category rainfall in the next 24 hours. Apart from Pune, a red alert has also been issued for Raigad district whereas an orange alert has been issued on September 25 for seven other districts including four in Konkan, two in central Maharashtra, and one in Vidarbha.
After a 20-day dry spell that led to a serious rainfall deficit in Pune in September, the rainfall activity has again picked up in Pune city and the ghat areas. For the last two days, the city has been experiencing good rainfall along with thunder and lightning. On Tuesday too, the city experienced widespread heavy to isolated intense category rainfall. A thunderstorm is believed to have formed over outer northeast Pune city and moved westward toward the city causing intense rainfall in areas including Magarpatta, Wadgaon Sheri, Kalyani Nagar, Yerawada, Dhanori, Lohegaon and Ghorpadi. Even areas such as Pashan, Katraj, Sinhagad Road, Warje and Kothrud received heavy rainfall.
According to IMD data, Shivajinagar recorded 19.2 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm on September 24. Due to the heavy rainfall, many areas experienced waterlogging. The current rainfall is said to be associated with the withdrawal of the monsoon that has started in Rajasthan but is yet to start in Maharashtra.
Anupam Kashyapi, former head of the weather and forecasting division of IMD Pune, said, “Current satellite images show huge moisture presence in the atmosphere. Cloud cells are persisting. In the morning, there will be sunlight but as the day progresses, clouds including Cumulonimbus clouds will form especially in the afternoon and evening. This is the very nature of return monsoon.
S D Sanap, senior scientist, IMD Pune, said, “A low-pressure system is active in the Bay of Bengal and the monsoon shear zone is lying at northern Maharashtra due to which moisture incursion increased in Maharashtra. This led to increased rainfall in Maharashtra.”
Rainfall activity in Pune and other areas of the state will increase in the next 24 hours and continue on September 26 after which it is likely to reduce. “From the afternoon of September 26, the rain is likely to reduce for a few days. However, the Bay of Bengal branch is still active so more systems may form as predicted by the extended range forecast of the IMD.”
Due to the rain received in the last three days, the city has made up for deficient September rainfall in the last 10 years but current rainfall which is over 60 mm till September 24 is still less than the normal rainfall of 143.6 mm, revealed the IMD data.