At 41.6°, Mumbai’s hottest March day since 1956

Mumbai experienced its hottest day in decades in the month of March on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching 41.6° C. This was just 0.1°C below the last record-holding high of 41.7°C recorded at the Santa Cruz Weather station in March, 1956.

South Mumbai faced the brunt of the heat. The last time March temperatures in Colaba even touched the 40s was 26 years ago (1984) when the mercury touched 40.4°C. “Mercury levels have soared by 1.2°C. The all time record of the Colaba station has been surpassed,” said RV Sharma, deputy director, IMD (western region). Temperatures in the suburbs touched 41.3°C.
Heat waves, usually experienced in April, were witnessed across the city, making people extremely uncomfortable. “I feel like I am in North India, not Mumbai,” said a commuter at Dadar.

The met department claimed the heat was unexpected. “The wind is blowing from northeast and eastern parts of Delhi. This has made the climate hot and dry. Due to the arid climate, the sea winds blowing from the Arabian Sea is taking longer to settle in the atmosphere,” said Sharma.