At 39.4 degrees Celsius, Mumbai records highest temp in country for 2nd time in March: IMD

For the second time in the current month, Mumbai recorded the highest maximum temperature in the country at 39.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, attributing the rise in mercury to absent or delayed sea breeze.

The IMD had warned of a heat wave for Sunday and Monday. The Santacruz observatory and the Colaba observatory recorded a temperature of 39.4 degrees Celsius and 35.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Sunday.

"This is for the second time this month that Mumbai has recorded the highest maximum temperature in the country. On March 6, Santacruz (observatory) recorded 39.1 degrees Celsius, also the highest in the country.

On Sunday, it recorded 39.4 degrees Celsius," said IMD scientist Rajendra Jenamani. He said the temperature recorded in the coastal Konkan region, which encompasses Mumbai, was 4-6 degrees Celsius above normal on March 12.

This was also observed between March 5-7 when the temperature was 5-7 degrees above normal, Jenamani added. "Normally, Konkan witnesses low temperatures during this time because of the sea breeze at around 11.30 am to 1 pm.

However, in the last seven-ten days the sea breeze is absent or delayed because of the dominant easterly winds which have resulted in high temperatures," he said, adding that the temperature should reach highest between Rajasthan and Gujarat but it is controlled due to thunderstorm cloud and favourable wind.