Mumbai recorded the third highest day temperature in April in the last one decade as the Santacruz observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) registered 38.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which is five degrees above normal.According to IMD data, the highest ever maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius in April was recorded in 2014, followed by 38.9 degrees Celsius in April last year.The IMD issues a heatwave warning whenever the daily maximum temperature recorded is higher than normal by a range of 4.5 degrees Celsius to 6.4 degrees Celsius. For a coastal city like Mumbai, the maximum temperature also needs to be above 37 degrees Celsius in both weather observatories of the IMD to declare a heatwave.
Alongside Santacruz, the IMD’s coastal observatory at Colaba recorded 34 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which is also two degrees above normal.Weather experts have said that currently, there is a possibility of the temperature falling marginally in the next couple of days. “Temperatures are high due to the formation of an anticyclone that has associated around Mumbai, in the next one or two days there is a chance of this anticyclone getting disassociated, which may lead to slight drop in temperature,” said an IMD official. Alongside maximum temperature, Mumbai’s minimum temperature has also crossed the normal level, with Santacruz and Colaba observatories recording 25.6 degrees Celsius and 26.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, both of which are one degree above normal.