Mumbaikars kept their quintessential cool although Thursday was the hottest day in the city this month. The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded the maximum temperature at 38.7 degrees Celsius -- almost six degrees above normal. The Colaba observatory recorded maximum temperature at 36.4 degrees Celsius.
According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) of the IMD, the heatwave which started on Thursday is expected to remain till Saturday.
The maximum temperature over other coastal stations have also risen, leading to heatwave conditions in isolated pockets of areas in South Konkan and North Konkan including Mumbai, IMD said. However, maximum temperatures are expected to gradually drop, and existing heatwave conditions are likely to abate after Saturday.
As per the prediction by IMD weathermen, the weather will remain dry in Thane and Palghar regions. According to the RMC, the temperature is likely to remain at the same level for the next 48 hours. The maximum daytime temperature in March last year was 37.5 degrees Celsius.
Recently, an international scientific study had suggested that potentially deadly heat waves will likely become more common in South Asian countries, including India, in the coming decades even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
While the temperature recorded at the Santacruz observatory in the evening was 38.7-degree celsius, in the afternoon on Thursday, the Mumbai Santacruz observatory recorded a temperature of 39-degree Celsius with humidity as low as 20 per cent. "Heatwave conditions began in the Konkan belt including Mumbai the conditions are likely to remain the same upto March 27," said a senior official from the Regional Meteorological Centre of IMD.
