Mumbai records its hottest August day since 1969; yellow alert sounded for this week

With little showers, the temperature at Santacruz station soared to 33.6 degrees Celsius — a spike of 3.2 degrees above normal — making it the city’s hottest temperature recorded in August. Earlier, it was registered at 33.5 degrees Celsius in 2020 and 1969.

However, the IMD has forecast light to moderate showers along with thunderstorms from Monday. According to weather experts, the rain activity is likely to intensify from Wednesday.

According to the IMD, thunderstorms and gusty winds at the speed of 30/40 kmph are likely on Wednesday, following which the rain activity will recede. In Raigad, a yellow warning has been issued from Monday until Wednesday.

Mahesh Palawat from Skymet Weather Services told The Indian Express, “A cyclonic circulation, which was over Gujarat and South Sindh, has now moved away due to which the westerlies will become stronger in the coming days, pulling in moisture from the Arabian Sea. With this, Mumbai will start experiencing patchy rain from August 20.”

The weather bureau has sounded a yellow alert owing to the likelihood of thunderstorms and lightning across most districts of Maharashtra.

“Unlike in Mumbai, Vidarbha and Marathwada regions will experience showers owing to another weather system, which is a low pressure area over Jharkhand,” said Palawat.

Meanwhile, the total stock in the seven lakes catering to Mumbai’s water demands touched 93.04 percent of the total capacity on Sunday morning. This is significantly higher than last year, when on the same day, the lake levels remained at 83.44 per cent, while in 2022, the water stock had surpassed 95 per cent.

So far, Mumbai has recorded 2,241 mm rain, of which 188 mm rain was registered in August, making it the second wettest month for the year. The average for the month is 566 mm.