At 40°Celsius, Mumbai sweats it out on its hottest day in 5 years

MUMBAI: Mumbai's heat intensified on Tuesday, with the India Meteorological Department's Santacruz observatory recording a maximum temperature of 40 degress Celsius—the highest maximum temperature in the city in 5 years. At 7.6 °C above normal, the reading met the criteria for a severe heatwave, which is declared when the departure from normal exceeds 6.5 °C. Meanwhile, the all-time highest temperature for the month of March is 41.7 °C, recorded on March 28, 1956. Across North Konkan, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed as temperatures rose sharply above normal. Dahanu also recorded 40 °C, registering a steep departure of +9.6 °C, while Thane logged 39.2 °C, which was 5.4 °C above normal, indicating heatwave conditions, said IMD officials. Earlier in the day on Tuesday, the IMD issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar, indicating heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in isolated areas for the day. For March 11, a yellow alert is in place for all parts of MMR, including Mumbai, indicating hot and humid conditions in isolated pockets. From March 12 onwards, dry weather conditions are expected to resume up to March 14.While the IMD Santacruz observatory recorded maximum temperatures of 40 °C, which was 7.6 °C above normal, the IMD's Colaba observatory recorded 35.4 °C, which was 4.3°C above normal. "Prolonged heatwave conditions are persisting due to a stagnant anticyclonic circulation over Gujarat and Rajasthan. This is allowing hot north to north-easterly land winds to sweep into North Konkan, replacing the usual maritime cooling with dry continental air and making the region more vulnerable to heat," ‘said Abhijit Modak, an independent weather observer."For coastal Konkan, temperatures are often a battle between the sea breeze and land breeze. When the sea breeze arrives late, temperatures rise sharply and heatwave conditions develop. But if it sets in early, it quickly moderates coastal temperatures. Interior Konkan areas located more than 10 km inland do not receive this relief, which is why the region has been under prolonged heatwave conditions since March 4," he added.Rajesh Kapadia, also an independent weather enthusiast and the founder of the weather blog Vagaries of the Weather, said, "Day temperatures touching 38 °C or slightly higher in early March are not unusual, and a similar situation was observed around the year 1981 in the first week of March. However, what is uncommon this time is the persistence of the heat for nearly 9–10 days."Kapadia added that the conditions are expected to last until around March 13, when the anticyclone weakens. "Once an east–west trough develops over central India and breaks the anticyclone, Mumbai and the Konkan region should start getting north-westerly winds, bringing temperatures down from March 13–14 onwards."