Heavy overnight rain drenches Mumbai, traffic remains largely unaffected

Heavy overnight rainfall lashed Mumbai after the southwest monsoon's delayed arrival, prompting the IMD to issue a red alert before downgrading it to orange. Despite intense showers, suburban trains, BEST buses and road traffic continued to operate normally.

Mumbai: Mumbaikars woke up to heavy overnight rains on Wednesday, while all major subways in the city stayed open and traffic movement was largely smooth, officials said.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai and Palghar at 4 am on Wednesday, valid for three hours, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, intense to very intense rainfall, and winds of 40-60 kmph.

The alert was downgraded to an orange alert at 7 am for the next three hours, with moderate to intense spells of rain forecast for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Palghar and Sindhudurg districts.

---

The southwest monsoon finally hit Mumbai on Tuesday, 13 days after its normal onset date, bringing much- needed relief from the sweltering heat.

The normal onset date of the monsoon in Mumbai is June 10. Notably, in 2023 the monsoon had arrived even later, on June 25, according to IMD data.

The longest delay was in 1974 and 1958 when the onset of monsoon was recorded on June 28, according to IMD.

The overnight downpour has not affected road and rail traffic so far, an official said on Wednesday. All major subways in the city remained open, he added.

Railway services on the suburban network operated normally, while BEST bus services also functioned without disruption, he said.