City feels the heat as temp reaches 36.3° C

MUMBAI : The city recorded a hot Sunday as temperatures soared to 36.3 degrees Celsius, at par with the season’s highest maximum temperature.santacruz station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), recorded a maximum temperature of 36.3 degrees Celsius, a good 5 degrees above normal.

This was the same as that recorded on February 2 when the city marked the highest maximum temperature of the winter season. Colaba station recorded a maximum temperature of 34.6 degrees Celsius, 4.4 degrees above normal.

Both the stations recorded a steep rise in maximum temperatures from Saturday’s 34.7 degrees Celsius (Santacruz) and 33.3 degrees Celsius (Colaba).

“Because of the lower-level easterly winds and the delayed setting of sea breeze over Mumbai, the maximum temperature rose in the city. The trend is likely to continue for the next couple of days,” said Shubhangi Bhute, scientist, IMD Mumbai.

Minimum temperatures also remained above normal. Santacruz recorded a minimum temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, which was 2.3 degrees above normal. At Colaba, the minimum temperature was 23 degrees Celsius, 3.5 degrees above normal.

The rising temperature brought some respite to the air quality of the city as an overall air quality index (AQI) of 125 was recorded by the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). Mumbai’s air quality is expected to improve over the next two days.