Mumbai swelters in warmest March day since 2023, warmest day this year

The minimum temperatures also registered a deviation of nearly 3 degrees above the normal as the Santacruz and Colaba stations woke up to readings of 22.8 degrees and 25 degrees respectively.

On Monday afternoon, the city recorded 37.2 degrees Celsius. While the IMD downgraded its heatwave alert for the district on Monday to a yellow alert of ‘hot and humid’ conditions, the weather bureau sounded a fresh heatwave for the day on Tuesday afternoon.

The city is currently reeling under its second heat wave of the season with the first recorded between February 26 – 27. Even as the city recorded high temperatures over 38 degrees for nearly four consecutive days during that period, they remained below 39 degrees — making Tuesday Mumbai’s hottest day of the year.

Meteorologists have attributed the ongoing spell of hot weather to the easterly winds, which have delayed the influx of sea breeze. Mumbai is not a stranger to such high temperatures in March, which is regarded as the month of transition from winters into summers. Records show that the city’s warmest day of the month was recorded at 41.7 degrees in 1956 while its coldest day was registered in 2012 at 12.7 degrees Celsius.

Once the cooler conditions from march 13 leave, temperatures are expected to vary between 34 – 35 degrees, which is normal for the month of March.

According to Sunil Kamble, director of IMD Mumbai, the dip in temperatures is expected owing to the influx of cool northerly winds as well as the weakening of a high pressure system.

For today (Wednesday), the IMD has extended its yellow warning of ‘hot and humid’ weather conditions with the temperatures likely to touch highs of 37 degrees.