At 35.6°C, Tuesday was Mumbai’s hottest day of the season; today forecast to be even more hot

Temperatures are expected to come down to normal levels on Friday.

The spell of above normal temperature since January 11 continued with the day temperature 5.2 degree Celsius above normal on Tuesday, breaching the 35 degree Celsius mark for the first time this winter.

Wednesday is expected to be hotter in Mumbai. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The Santacruz weather station, representative of the suburbs, recorded 35.6 degrees Celsius, which is the highest day temperature this season. Colaba recorded 34 degrees Celsius, 4.5 degree Celsius above normal.

While the highest January day temperature last year was 36 degrees Celsius on January 24, the city recorded 37.3 degrees Celsius on January 1, 2016. However, between 2011 and 2015, the highest maximum temperature in January ranged between 33.7 and 34.9 degrees Celsius.

Officials from the weather bureau said they had predicted the spike in day temperatures on January 12.

“The shift in wind pattern earlier this month, from cool northerly winds to warm easterly to south-easterly winds from the land, persists over the city. Along with high moisture levels, the wind pattern has allowed temperatures to increase,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).

A partly cloudy sky has been predicted for Wednesday and day temperatures are expected to rise further to 36 degrees Celsius, said Hosalikar.

For the fourth day in a row, minimum temperatures continued to be 4 degrees Celsius above normal as Colaba recorded 23 degrees Celsius [4.5 degree Celsius above normal] and 21.3 degrees Celsius was recorded at Santacruz [4.6 degrees Celsius above normal]. Temperatures are expected to come down to normal levels on Friday.

Meanwhile, pollution levels reduced in the city on Tuesday. As against an air quality index (AQI) of 253 (poor) on Monday, AQI on Tuesday was 226 (poor).

An AQI of 232 (poor) has been predicted for Wednesday. Andheri and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) were the most polluted locations in the city with 309 and 305 AQI levels respectively, both falling under the ‘very poor’ category.