Mumbai loses its cool at 39.5ºC

Mumbai felt the brunt of summer heat on Saturday as the temperature soared to 39.5 degrees Celsius. The weather was also dry instead of humid. According to meteorology department officials, the temperature would have gone even higher if it were not for the sea breeze. The temperature gradually dipped in the evening, settling down to 25 degrees Celsius by midnight.

“Saturday was the hottest day after the summer officially set in over the peninsula region which covers Maharashtra, Andhra and Karnataka. Even the variation in the temperature in Mumbai (from Friday night to Saturday morning) was the highest at 23.8 degrees Celsius,” said Vishwambhar Singh, Director, Indian Meteorology Department, Mumbai.

At 39.5 degrees Celsius, the temperature recorded at Santacruz on Saturday was almost six degrees above normal, and the temperature at Colaba was four degrees above normal.

However, Singh attributed the changes to the seasonal pattern. “The summer according to the MET department has set in from March 14, when the temperature was 21.3 degrees. What was significant was the dryness in the air in the morning. Usually
the sea breeze which brings along moisture is expected by 10am when the temperature actually starts rising. But on Saturday, the phenomenon was delayed by four hours resulting in the heat and dry atmosphere,”
he added.

The heat wave passed across the state with the temperature at Chandrapur district soaring to as high as 41.2 degrees Celsius. The temperature in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh too soared up, MET officials said.