Monsoon may be late in Mumbai

June 12, 2007 12:12 IST

Mumbai will have to wait for a few more days for monsoon showers.

According to officials of the Meteorological department and the Department of Science and Technology, the southwest monsoon has been active along the west coast and in the northeast of the country but the case is different on the Arabian Sea coast.

Monsoon's progress from the Arabian Sea arm to the north is held up for the time being due to lack of 'steering' systems.

This could lead to a deferment of the time for onset in Mumbai. Seasonal rains were expected to reach the country's financial capital around June 10.

However,

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the strong flows will ensure that torrential downpour buffet large parts of the west coast.

What could now prove crucial is the possibility of a 'low' throwing itself up close to land over the southeast coast, which the European Centre for Medium-term Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has been indicating over the past few days.

This could bring about dramatic changes in the way monsoon is driven up to the north along the west coast and in how speedily the rain belt extends footprint over the rest of the peninsula.

Commodity Online