Mumbai Rains: City Witnesses Unusual Spell On New Year Day
Mumbai woke up to an unusual deluge on New Year's Day, with heavy rains lashing the city.
Rains were reported in various parts of the city, such as Borivli, Andheri, Bandra, Vasai, Mahim, Thane and more. The light showers of rain brought down pollution levels in Mumbai, reported news agency ANI.
K.S Hosalikar, Scientist-G Former Head; Climate Research & Services, IMD Pune shared real-time satellite imagery confirming light, continuous rains over Mumbai, Palghar, and North Konkan since 5:36 AM on January 1, 2026.
Hosalikar also shared a 12-second IMD radar loop depicting light to moderate rainfall echoes over Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra around 6:39 a.m.
The early New Year's rain is unusual for Mumbai's dry winter season, triggered by a passing low-pressure system, as corroborated by NDTV reports of an unexpected deluge without official warnings.
As rains lashed the city, many users took to X (formerly Twitter) to share videos. A user wrote, "Rain covered the air before the first ray of sunlight touched the ground." Another user wrote, "Mumbai welcomes New Year morning with heavy rains."
A user noted that Mumbai's AQI was temporarily lowered from unhealthy levels around 167-175 to cleaner air, as rain naturally washes airborne pollutants like PM2.5 but the reset effect is often short-lived. "Mumbai Rains on 01.01.26: Nature keep on resetting the AQI but for how long before it rises back due to poor policy implementation?," he posted on X.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had not issued any forecast on rains.
The IMD will conduct a Virtual Press Conference on "Seasonal Outlook for Winter season rainfall and Monthly Outlook for rainfall and temperature for January 2026" on Thursday, Jan.1, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
In Mumbai, January is strictly considered a dry month and is not part of the monsoon season. The official Indian monsoon typically lasts from June to September. Any rain occurring in January is classified as "unseasonal rain," usually triggered by specific atmospheric disturbances rather than the seasonal monsoon winds.
