Mumbai | The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a red alert for Konkan, including Mumbai and ghat areas of central Maharashtra, forecasting extremely heavy rainfall till August 20.

The red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Palghar districts will be in place till Wednesday morning, an official said.

According to the IMD, widespread rainfall is very likely over Konkan and central Maharashtra's ghat regions, with heavy to very heavy showers at several places and isolated extremely heavy rainfall.

The department has also predicted scattered to fairly widespread rain with isolated heavy showers likely in Marathwada, and thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph over parts of the state for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The weather office said the rainfall activity is linked to a depression that moved across south Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning and is expected to weaken into a low-pressure area within 12 hours.

Monsoon systems, including the offshore trough running from south Gujarat to north Kerala and an upper air circulation over the northeast Arabian Sea, are also helping in maintaining strong rainfall activity over Maharashtra, it stated.

The forecast indicated that the heavy rain spell would continue across the state till August 21, with the intensity expected to be highest in Konkan, central Maharashtra's ghat areas and coastal districts