Santacruz records 38°C, Mumbai's second-highest October temperature in 13 years

Mumbai: The October heat kept its grip on Mumbai through the weekend. The India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 38°C on Sunday, October 11, 4.9°C above normal, the Free Press Journal reported. It was the second-highest October maximum in 13 years; the highest, 38.6°C, was recorded on October 17, 2015.

There is no official heatwave alert, but hot and humid conditions will continue. For the next 24 hours, the forecast for the city and its suburbs is a maximum of about 37°C and a minimum of about 26°C. IMD Mumbai director Bikram Singh said the maximum temperature is expected to come down gradually from Tuesday.

The southwest monsoon usually withdraws from Mumbai around October 10, but this year it pulled out on October 3. A professor of environmental science at the University of Mumbai, who did not want to be named, said the early withdrawal and a long dry spell in September had pushed up ground temperatures. Experts also link the heat to El Niño conditions, which caused a rainfall deficit.

Temperatures rise when northeasterly winds blow, and conditions feel like a heatwave when the winds over the Arabian Sea settle after noon while daytime temperatures stay high, the professor said. October heat is nothing new for Mumbai, but this year the first post-monsoon heatwave arrived within the first ten days of the month.

Source: Free Press Journal