The cyclonic storm Maha is moving north-northwestwards approximately 325 km away from Kerala and is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Friday morning. Under its influence, parts of Maharashtra and Goa are expected to witness rain and thunderstorms during the next two days.
Issuing a yellow watch for Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, south Konkan and Goa, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning in the region till Saturday. A yellow watch from the IMD recommends to 'be updated' about the possible heavy rainfall. As Maha drifts away from India from Friday night onwards, the possibility of rain is set to drop during the weekend.
On Wednesday, Daund in Pune district received a maximum of 60 mm rainfall. Mumbai is experiencing dry weather conditions with temperatures slightly above normal. Partly cloudy skies are forecast over the commercial capital for the next few days with the possibility of thunder and lightning on Friday. Similar conditions are also forecast in other coastal cities like Ratnagiri and Panaji.
Owing to intermittent rainfall, the air quality in Mumbai and Pune have improved 'satisfactory' and 'good' levels respectively. The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) has forecast that the air quality will remain satisfactory even on Friday. On Thursday, only Bandra-Kurla Complex was moderately polluted with at 24-hour average Air Quality Index of 173.
The average rainfall in Marathwada and Madhya Maharashtra in October is less than 75 mm. However, this year both the regions have received more than 200 mm of rain. The Konkan and Goa subdivision has also received 255 mm rainfall against the normal of 110 mm—large excess of 131%. Therefore, this has been one of the rainiest October for both Maharashtra and Goa in recent history.
The excessive rains in October have reportedly affected crops in over 17 lakh hectares in Maharashtra. While waterlogging has been affecting the harvest-ready crops, the excessive moisture content is fetching lesser prices for the harvested crop.
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