Cloudy with a chance of rainfall... any time of year

For the last couple of days, the city has borne witness to nightly rain, but if anyone hoped that it indicated a respite from the midday sun, they had another think coming.

Why is the weather blowing hot and cold?
"Although it was only a light shower, it was accompanied by lightning and thunder. While this is not a usual occurrence, it has been known to happen before. This is happening due to low pressure over the Lakshwadeep islands. Many other parts of Maharashtra have seen rainfall, like the Northern Konkan region, north of central Maharashtra and certain parts of Marathwada. We expect it to blow over by Sunday or Monday," said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department.

How much rainfall did the city on Saturday?
On Saturday morning, the suburbs saw a precipitation of 1.7 mm yet the maximum temperature soared to 37 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was at 23 degrees Celsius, marking the difference at nearly 14 degrees Celsius at Santacruz. The IMD's figures hint that the mercury is set to rise even higher as the month progresses.

What was the upshot of this dubious bounty?
The result was a humidity reaching nearly 65% at Santacruz and 74% at Colaba. Thus adding to the heat faced by Mumbaikars, although Colaba didn't experience any rainfall.
"When I stepped out of house, I was surprised to see the roads and grounds wet but the day was extremely hot and humid. It was very hot even inside my house," said Shraddha Uchil, a resident of Sion.