Mumbai sizzles at 39.4 degrees Celsius, logs highest temperature in India

For the second time in the current month, Mumbai recorded the highest maximum temperature in the country at 39.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, attributing the rise in mercury to absent or delayed sea breeze.

The IMD had warned of a heatwave on Sunday and Monday.

The Santacruz observatory (located in suburbs) and the Colaba observatory (located on southern tip of island city) -- around 19km apart -- recorded temperatures of 39.4 degrees Celsius and 35.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Sunday.

"This is for the second time this month that Mumbai has recorded the highest maximum temperature in the country. On March 6, Santacruz (observatory) recorded 39.1 degrees Celsius, also the highest in the country (that day). On Sunday, the city recorded 39.4 degrees Celsius," said IMD scientist Rajendra Jenamani.

According to the IMD, the highest Mumbai temperature in March was 41.3 degrees Celsius recorded at the Santacruz observatory on March 17, 2011. Seven years later, the metropolis (Santacruz observatory) had recorded 41 degrees Celsius on March 26, 2018.

The IMD scientist said the temperature recorded in the coastal Konkan region, which encompasses Mumbai, was 4 to 6 degrees Celsius above normal on March 12.

This was also observed between March 5-7 when the temperature was 5 to 7 degrees above normal, Jenamani added.

"Normally, Konkan witnesses low temperatures during this time because of the sea breeze between 11.30 am and 1 pm. However, in the last seven to ten days the sea breeze is absent or delayed because of the dominant easterly winds which have resulted in high temperatures," he said.