Mumbai may see brief respite from heat this weekend

As per official forecasts, daytime temperature may drop further to 32 degrees Celsius over the weekend, before starting to rise again around March 24.

After temperatures soared to a season high of 38.2 degrees Celsius on March 13, the city saw its coolest day in at least a week on Friday when the daytime maximum temperature settled at 33.2 degrees Celsius; down from 34.2 degrees Celsius the day before. As per official forecasts, daytime temperature may drop further to 32 degrees Celsius over the weekend, before starting to rise again around March 24.

Air quality in the city, meanwhile, entered the moderate category after at least five days, with an air quality index (AQI) of 197. (HT FILE)

A spokesperson for the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Mumbai said that the dip in temperature was due to the influence of an impending weather system forming over Northern Madhya Maharashtra, with thunderstorms expected in Jalgaon, Dhule, Nashik, Nandurbar, Pune and Ahmednagar districts over the next three days. Parts of Buldhana district, as well as Jalna and Aurangabad, saw hailstorms on Friday.

“We have issued a weather alert for these districts. While showers are not expected over western Maharashtra, the passage of moisture heavy clouds over some parts of the state are having a cooling effect on cities like Mumbai. But after the weather system passes, temperatures will start rising again. The maximum reading may touch 36 degrees Celsius by March 26,” the official said.

The minimum temperature in Mumbai on Friday settled at 22 degrees Celsisus — also the lowest in at least a week — down from 24.4 degrees Celsius the previous day. As per IMD’s seven-day forecast for the city, minimum temperature is expected to remain at about 23 degrees Celsius during the next week, touching a high of 24 degrees Celsius around March 23. Clear and partly cloudy skies are expected to prevail intermittently.

Air quality in the city, meanwhile, entered the moderate category after at least five days, with an air quality index (AQI) of 197, down from about 230 the day prior, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). A spokesperson for SAFAR, which maintains a network of 10 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, said, “AQI in Mumbai will, for the most part, remain in the upper end of moderate to lower end of the poor category for all of March. Once temperatures rise in April, resulting in faster winds and quicker dispersal of pollutants, the AQI should settle around 150, with the exception of some dust storms that are to be expected during the summer.”