Mumbai: Mercury at 38.1 degrees Celsius, warmest day of season

The city witnessed its warmest day of the season so far on Thursday

The city witnessed its warmest day of the season so far on Thursday. The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Santacruz weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 38.1 degrees Celsius at the automatic weather station in Santacruz, up from 37.3 degrees Celsius a day prior. Thursday’s reading was 5 degrees Celsius above normal and surpassed last year’s maximum reading of 37.5 degrees Celsius (on March 17).

Kids cooling off at Banganga tank. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Officials once again attributed the spike in Mercury to dry, warm winds blowing at a low altitude over the city - at about 900 metres above mean sea level - coming from an anticyclonic circulation over central India.

“Persistent influence of these winds over the last two days has caused the temperature to rise,” said Shubhangi Bhute, a scientist at IMD, adding that a heatwave may be announced if temperatures remain 5 degrees above normal for a second day.

The minimum temperature at Santacruz was recorded at 20.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which was at normal, and only slightly higher than the previous day’s reading of 20.4 degrees Celsius.

In Colaba, on the other hand, the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.8 degrees Celsius (down from 34.5 degrees a day prior), while the minimum temperature was recorded at 23 degrees Celsius (up from 22.3 degrees Celsius a day prior).

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Santacruz, Friday and Saturday may see higher daytime temperatures, touching as much as 39 degrees Celsius. The minimum reading is predicted to remain at least 21 degrees Celsius over the week. Mainly clear skies will prevail.

Meanwhile, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), air quality on Thursday settled just short of the very poor category, with the air quality index (AQI) at 293, up from 208 the day prior. The forecasted AQI for Friday is 259.