Mercury spikes to 38.5 degrees Celsius in Mumbai, no respite predicted

Mumbai: Amid an ongoing heatwave in parts of north, west and central India, the daytime maximum temperature in Mumbai rose significantly on Monday to touch 38

Mumbai: Amid an ongoing heatwave in parts of north, west and central India, the daytime maximum temperature in Mumbai rose significantly on Monday to touch 38.5 degrees Celsius, up from 35 degrees Celsius the day before. Officials at the India Meteorological Department’s regional forecasting centre in Mumbai attributed the spike in mercury to the transport of warm, dry air from the north and northwest India over the Konkan region.

Two young girls cover their heads as they walk while drinking water in the scorching afternoon heat as the mercury rises in Thane (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

“Though there is no prediction for a heatwave in Mumbai, the blowing of warm air from the north over Konkan will lead to a reduction in humidity and keep temperatures high. The delayed sea breeze has also been observed which will not allow much reduction in temperature toward the evenings,” said an official with the IMD in Mumbai.

They added that the city has seen consistently above normal temperatures, both minimum and maximum, since April 19.

“Sunday’s reading of 35 degrees Celsius is the lowest since April 21, but in the week before that the lowest recorded temperature was 32.8 degrees on April 19, so it has definitely gotten much warmer, and very quickly too. But so far there is no heatwave alert for Mumbai. Yellow heatwave alert, indicating risk to vulnerable groups like elderly, infants and people with chronic disease, has been sounded only Chandrapur, Buldhana and Yavatmal districts from April 27 to 29,” the official said.

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, temperatures will continue to remain above normal throughout the next week, with the daytime maximum settling at about 37 degrees Celsius, and minimum temperatures of 28 degrees Celsius (up from 24.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday).

The city’s highest recorded temperature this month so far has been 38.9 degrees Celsius on April 21, while the hottest April day recorded in Mumbai was on April 14, 1952, when the mercury soared to 42.2 degrees Celsius.