MUMBAI: Nearly two weeks after the official withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, the city's day temperature on Wednesday escalated to a sweltering 36.4 degrees Celsius, the highest October day temperature in four years, and tied with the maximum temperature recorded on October 16, 2021.
The city's all-time record, so far, has been 38.6 degree Celsius on October 17, 2015, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.
IMD scientist Sushma Nair attributed the spike in day temperatures to the prevailing easterly to southeasterly winds at lower altitudes. Nair further explained that the "calmness of these winds leads to the entrapment of moisture, resulting in the formation of mist during early mornings". An anticyclonic circulation at the mid-tropospheric level (approximately 3.5km above ground) was also cited as a significant contributing factor to the prevailing atmospheric conditions.
On Wednesday, the IMD Santacruz observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius, which was 2.4 degrees above normal, and the IMD Colaba observatory recorded 33.2 degrees Celsius, which was -0.3 above normal.
On Tuesday, the IMD Santacruz and Colaba weather stations had recorded daytime temperatures of 34.6 degrees Celsius and 33.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Humidity levels were also on the higher side with the Colaba and Santacruz stations recorded 77% and 70%, respectively.
Abhijit Modak, an independent forecaster managing the Konkan Weather blog, attributed the rise in daytime temperatures to the delayed onset of the sea breeze. "Typically, the sea breeze is expected to set in by 1pm, but there was a delay on Wednesday, resulting in the temperature rise," he said, highlighting the role of the prevailing low pressure system in drawing away the moisture due to prolonged land breeze from north-east till around 2.30pm.
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Read MoreRicha Pinto is a special correspondent with The Times of India. She covers urban governance & climate change issues. With over a decade of experience in field reporting, she has written extensively on various civic issues affecting Mumbaikars. She graduated in -journalism from the prestigious Mumbai-based St Xavier's College and later pursued a three-year Law degree (L.L.B.) with the University of Mumbai. She regularly tweets about all things that matter to Mumbai on-- @richapintoi.
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