Expect heavy rain in some areas today

MUMBAI: The city witnessed the highest 24-hour rainfall for June from Thursday to Friday since 2005. Weather officials said the rain received in 24 hours starting from 8.30am on Thursday comes under the 'heavy rainfall' category.Colaba recorded 208.8mm and Santacruz 283.4mm, which are over 10% of the average monsoon total for Mumbai—2,230mm in Colaba and 2,558mm in Santacruz.Heavy rain continued to lash the city even after 8.30am on Friday: in the 12-hour period starting from that time, rainfall was recorded at 76.2mm in Colaba and 136.2mm in Santacruz. Already by 2.30pm, Colaba had received 67.4mm and Santacruz 55.6mm. The weather bureau has forecast intermittent rain or showers in the island city and the suburbs in the next 24 hours; heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur in some areas."The onset of the monsoon this year on June 12 was good as 82.2mm of rainfall was recorded in a 24-hour period. Compared to last year, when rainfall for the month of June was deficient, this year the monsoon has (continued being strong)," said KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region), India Meteorological Department.Last June, the highest rainfall for a 24-hour period was 31.7mm—on June 17. This was two days after the monsoon arrived on June 15. The normal date for the onset of the monsoon in Mumbai is June 10.This year, since the start of June, 514.5mm of rainfall has been recorded in Colaba and 536.4mm in Santacruz.In the decade since 2005, the rainiest June day was the 24th of thej month in the year 2007, when 209.6mm of rainfall was recorded. The all-time June record for rainiest day is held by the 10th of the month in 1991, when the city received 399mm.Mumbaikars said they were caught unawares by the heavy rains on Thursday-Friday. Atul Kumar, vice-president and trustee of the Nariman Point Churchgate Residents Association said, "Thankfully, an alert for heavy rain was given by the BMC early on Friday morning. Therefore, many people could decide whether to venture out of their homes or not."