Mumbai: City boils at 37.5°C, temp set to rise further

Mumbai: The city experienced its hottest day of the season at 37.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday and has been witnessing an average maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius throughout the week, indicating the arrival of summer.

Temp set to rise further

In addition, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast an increase of 2 degrees over the weekend along with clear sunny skies for the next two days.

“The city may experience a rise in temperature as we are slowly entering the summer season. The winds from the east are dominant currently which brings in warmth, but as these winds decrease by evening, we start to experience cooler temperatures . That is why we see a significant temperature difference in the minimum and maximum temperature of the city," said an IMD official. The minimum temperature recorded in Santacruz on Thursday was 18.2 degrees Celsius. 

"The weekend may witness an even higher temperature but the discomfort level may not be very high as the humidity could be relatively low, however, there is a possibility of dry and scorching heat. Meanwhile, if there are any temporary changes in the weather system, the temperature of the city may witness a drop,”added the official.

Temperature higher than usual

According to the IMD, the normal maximum temperature of the city is supposed to be around 30 °C but it is currently 7 to 8 degrees higher. 

On Thursday, Santacruz witnessed a minimum temperature of 18.2 °C and a maximum of 37.5°C, with 49% relative humidity. Colaba experienced a minimum temperature of 21.2 °C and a maximum of 36.4 °C, with 52% relative humidity.

Meanwhile, the air quality of the city witnessed no improvement with the Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining in the ‘poor’ category at 228 due to the weak speed of the winds along with construction and vehicular pollution.