Max temperature touches 36.4 degrees Celsius, Mumbai sees hottest October day

IMD officials said that citizens can expect consistently above normal temperatures over the next week. (HT Photo) © Provided by Hindustan Times

Prayag Arora-Desai, HT, Mumbai: Maximum daytime temperature in the city touched a season-high on Friday, settling at 36.4 degrees Celsius (up from 34.8 degrees Celsius the day prior) at the India Meteorological Department’s monitoring station in Santacruz. This surpasses this month’s previous record of 35.8 degrees Celsius on October 7. In 2020, the highest October temperature was recorded at 35 degrees Celsius on three days— October 10, October 28 and October 29.

IMD officials said that citizens can expect consistently above normal temperatures over the next week. (HT Photo)

The IMD had forecast a week ago that there will be a steep rise in mercury coinciding with the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon over Mumbai. “As the cloud cover clears up, there is more penetration of sunlight which heats up the surface of the earth. It is a typical phenomenon in October. With the monsoon withdrawing from Mumbai on Thursday, there was bound to be a spike in temperature today,” said an official with the IMD’s regional forecasting centre in Mumbai.

Friday’s temperature was three degrees above normal for the day and follows a period of near-normal temperatures owing to post-monsoon showers between October 7 and October 14. However, IMD officials said that citizens can expect consistently above normal temperatures over the next week. “But it may not be as high as it was on Friday. Humidity will reduce and wind speeds will also become faster and may have a cooling effect,” said the official cited above.

As per the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Santacruz, which is taken as representative of the city, the maximum temperature will hover around 35 degrees Celsius until October 21, while the minimum temperature will hover around 24 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature on Friday stood at 24.4 degrees Celsius.

Mumbai’s highest October temperature ever was recorded at 38.6 degrees Celsius in 2015. The phenomenon of October heat is typically exacerbated by a slowing down of onshore winds after the monsoon and a reduction in relative humidity.