May 27, 2025 - The early onset of monsoon in Maharashtra has been a fierce one. Two days of heavy rains have lashed many districts in the State, including Mumbai, creating chaos and revealing the State’s unpreparedness for the sudden rains. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for heavy rains in Mumbai for today, May 27. According to IMD, the city is expected to witness generally cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rain in Mumbai and the suburbs. There is also a possibility of thunderstorms or lightning accompanied by gusty winds at isolated places.

According to IMD scientist Sushma Nair, this is the earliest arrival of the monsoon in Mumbai in 75 years, the last earliest arrival being on May 29, 1956.

This month’s rainfall in the city has broken all previous records and recorded the wettest May in 100 years with 295 mm. Owing to the heavy rains, low-lying areas in Mumbai were submerged. Suburban and underground metro trains were hit leading to suspension of services. Water logging led to bus routes being affected. Several flights were disrupted.

Districts like Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri also faced severe disruption owing to heavy rains.

The southwest monsoon has now reached up to Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh as of May 26, and is expected to cover the entire southern region within a day or two.

Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast dust storms and thunderstorms over northern India in the next 24 hours - including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.

With Media Inputs