Rain to welcome Bappa

Ganpati Bappa is likely to receive a rainy welcome Meteorologists have predicted that Mumbai and its neighbouring areas will experience spells of rain between September 16 and September 20 Ganesh Chaturthi is on September 19 Apart from Mumbai and MMR from September 16 for the next three to four days areas in Vidarbha Marathwada and Madhya central Maharashtra are likely to receive the much required rainfall for the cropsThe India Meteorological Department IMD has predicted the system could move across Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the next two days getting closer to the western parts of India At the same time the monsoon trough also lies to the South of its position As per the weather bureau KonkanGoa ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada will most likely see moderate widespread rainfall thunderstorms and lightning with isolated heavy rain from September 1518Flood alert for VidarbhaVidarbha will witness isolated very heavy showers till September 16 Heavy downpours are expected to cover regions like the ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada from September 16 to September 18 A flood alert over lowlying regions of Vidarbha has been placed for the next 24 hours ldquoWe are expecting formation of a lowpressure area between September 14 and September 15 which might result in good rainfall after September 16rdquo said Sushma Nair scientist IMDrsquos Mumbai Regional Meteorological CentreAlso read Maharashtra Ulhasnagar mandalrsquos Ganesha welcome stops traffic for 6 hoursAccording to climatologist Rajesh Kapadia of Vagaries of the Weather a popular private weather blog ldquoThe low pressure from the Bay of Bengal will revive the rains and in Mumbai the frequency of rain will increase from Saturday with intermittent showers on Sunday and continue up to Tuesday next week The lakes might start overflowing After a short break on Tuesday September 19 rains will increase again by Thursday September 21 In the next four days cumulative rainfall will exceed 100 mm with very heavy rainrdquoMore rain expectedExplaining the weather system further meteorologists from Skymet weather said ldquoThe states of Gujarat and Maharashtra are all set to see heavy rain between September 17 and September 19 This is in association with the wellmarked lowpressure area in the Bay of Bengal which is expected to move inland soonldquoSouth Gujarat and Maharashtra will see rain North Madhya Maharashtra Marathwada Konkan and South Gujarat will see heavy rain Moreover heavy to very heavy rains are likely over North Konkan and South Gujarat between September 17 and 19 Parts of Maharashtra including Sangli Satara Kolhapur and Solapur may get some rainfallSouth Konkan region including Ratnagiri Sindhudurg and adjoining regions may also see some showers These areas however will not see very heavy showersrdquo Skymet said