The maximum temperature is very likely to rise even further with the possibility of heatwave conditions in isolated pockets of Konkan. As per the forecast, the weather will remain dry in Thane and Palghar regions. (File Photo)
Warm conditions continued in the city on Thursday, with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) automatic weather station in Santacruz recording a maximum temperature of 38.7 degrees Celsius, the season’s highest and 5.2 degrees above normal. The IMD issued a yellow alert, with a warning of heatwave conditions in some parts of Mumbai till Saturday.
The warm conditions are likely to continue in the Konkan region, including Mumbai, till Saturday. Parts of Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts will reel under heatwave conditions till Saturday, the IMD has said.
This was the fourth time this month that Mumbai’s maximum temperature crossed the 38 degrees mark, after touching 38.1 degrees Celsius yesterday and on March 4 and 38.2 degrees on March 5. The maximum daytime temperature in March last year was 37.5 degrees Celsius (on March 17).
The maximum temperature is very likely to rise even further with the possibility of heatwave conditions in isolated pockets of Konkan. As per the forecast, the weather will remain dry in Thane and Palghar regions.
According to the weather bureau, qualitatively, the heatwave is a condition of air temperature, which becomes fatal to the human body when exposed. Quantitatively, it is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal.
For coastal weather stations like Mumbai, the heatwave condition is declared when the maximum temperature departure is 4.5 degrees Celsius or more from normal, provided the actual maximum temperature is 37 degrees Celsius or more. For heatwave to be declared, the criteria should be met at least in two stations in a Meteorological sub-division, for Mumbai, will Colaba and Santacruz weather observatories, for at least two consecutive days. The heatwave is then declared on the second day.
Heatwave generally occurs between March and June, and in some rare cases, till July. The peak month of a heatwave over the country is in May. Parts of Maharashtra come under heatwave-prone regions, and maximum temperatures of over 45 degree Celsius is observed mainly over Rajasthan and Vidarbha regions in May.
The all-time highest maximum temperature in March recorded in the city was 41.7 degrees Celsius on March 28, 1956. Since 2011, the maximum temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius at least five times, in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2019.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
