Mumbai wakes up to warmest April morning in a decade

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, the minimum temperature over the weekend will hover around 27 degrees Celsius, falling to about 25 degrees Celsius by May 5

Mumbai: Amid an ongoing heatwave in other parts of the state, Mumbai on Friday experienced its warmest April morning in a decade, with the minimum temperature settling at 28.8 degrees Celsius (three degrees above normal), up from 25.8 degrees Celsius a day prior.

Mumbai wakes up to warmest April morning in a decade

However, there was some respite during the day, as the maximum temperature recorded at Santacruz reduced significantly to 34.7 degrees Celsius on Friday (one degree above normal) from 37 degrees on Thursday, which was four degrees above normal. Friday’s maximum was the lowest reading in nine days.

“Prevailing heat wave conditions toward the north and northwest of Mumbai and the Konkan region are responsible for the spikes in temperature in the city, but forecasts show that Mumbai will get some respite over the weekend. The intensity of the heat has come down by Friday evening itself, possibly due to an incursion of moisture. We expect this to continue over the weekend, and there may be a further cooling down of temperatures. There is no heatwave warning for coastal Maharashtra,” said Jayanta Sarkar, head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre in Mumbai.

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Mumbai, the minimum temperature over the weekend will hover around 27 degrees Celsius, falling to about 25 degrees Celsius by May 5. “The maximum temperature is expected to remain between 34 to 35 degrees Celsius over the next week,” Sarkar added.

Meanwhile, interior districts in Maharashtra, particularly in the Vidarbha meteorological subdivision, are among the hottest location on record in India this summer, officials in the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed on Friday, as Chandrapur city recorded a daytime maximum temperature of 46.4 degrees Celsius (up from 45.8 degrees Celsius the day prior).

For the second consecutive day of the ongoing heatwave, 23 out of 26 weather stations across Vidarbha, Marathwada and Madhya Maharashtra recorded maximum readings in excess of 40 degrees Celsius. Other locations with high readings included Jalgaon (44.8 degrees Celsius), Akola (45.8 degrees Celsius), Wardha (45.5 degrees Celsius), Brahmapuri (45.6 degrees Celsius) and Nagpur (45.2 degrees Celsius). Heat wave alerts have been issued by the IMD for five districts -- Nagpur, Yavatmal, Wardha, Akola and Chandrapur -- till May 3.

RK Jenamani, senior scientist at IMD, said, “Other than Rajasthan, Maharashtra has seen the hottest locations in India this summer season. In the last eight days, Chandrapur, Wardha and Jalgaon have all recorded among the highest maximum temperatures in the country.” These include Chandrapur on April 21 at 45.4 degrees Celsius, Wardha on April 25 at 45 degrees Celsius and Jalgaon on April 23 at 44 degrees Celsius.

In the last two months alone, Maharashtra has witnessed heatwave-like conditions four times, a rare occurrence. Pulak Guhathakurta, head of the climate research division at IMD, said, “Heatwaves are typically restricted to small pockets but this time it is much more widespread, which is unusual,” he said.

“Other than Kohlapur, Sangli and Mahabaleshwar, every other IMD station across Marathwada, Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha meteorological subdivisions today recorded maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. Only the Konkan region has seen some respite due to moisture from the sea and also orographic influence of the Western Ghats,” said KS Hosalikar, head of the IMD’s surface instrument division in Pune.