Monsoon tracker: When will rains advance further into Maharashtra

THe southwestward monsoon is potential to set ahead into Maharashtra and surrounding regions, o'er the next ii to three days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The southwest monsoon entered Maharashtra on June 6 and slowed down after arriving on schedule despite its delayed onset in Kerala, per the IMD.The monsoon made landfall in Kerala on June 4, three days after its normal onset date of June 1 and nearly a week later than the IMD’s earlier forecast of around May 26. It then advanced rapidly, covering large parts of the west coast up to Goa by June 5 before moving into Maharashtra a day later.The weather office, in a bulletin on Friday, said the monsoon had already "further advanced into entire northwest Bay of Bengal, some more parts of west central Bay of Bengal, West Bengal & Bihar, and some parts of Odisha & Jharkhand" on June 12.Monsoon is running slightly late to make its way into Maharashtra's Mumbai and other areas. For the delay, influence of western disturbances and weather systems from the northwest disrupting the usual flow of the monsoon winds has been cited as the reason. Read more on the delay hereWhen will monsoon reach MumbaiIn its Friday bulletin, the IMD said conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Maharashtra, remaining parts of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, some more parts of Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, and some parts of Chhattisgarh “during next 2-3 days.”The IMD's northern limit of monsoon currently passes through Harnai in coastal Maharashtra and Solapur in the state's interior, indicating that the monsoon is edging closer to Mumbai and adjoining areas. Even before the formal onset, parts of Maharashtra are likely to witness rain activity over the coming week. The IMD has forecast "isolated to scattered rainfall" over Konkan, region where Maharashtra's Mumbai, Thane etc., fall and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathawada during June 12-18.There, however, is no IMD rain alert for Mumbai till June 16 while the city was placed under a yellow warning for ‘hot day’ conditions on June 12 and 13.It also predicted "isolated thunderstorm, lightning & gusty winds (speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph)" over Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathawada during June 12-13.At the same time, heatwave conditions are expected to persist in parts of the state. The IMD said "heat wave conditions very likely in isolated pockets over Marathawada during 12th-13th June" and over Vidarbha during June 12-16.During the past 24 hours, thunderstorm activity accompanied by gusty winds was reported at isolated places over Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra, according to the bulletin dated June 12.