Mumbai: The India Meteorological Department issued a fresh heatwave warning in isolated pockets of Mumbai for Friday and Saturday (March 13 and 14), indicating the city could experience another spell of intense heat over the next 2 days.The city already witnessed 3 days of heatwave conditions in the last 12 days, on March 5, 9 and 10, and the fresh alert suggests temperatures could rise again across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). On Thursday, however, weather conditions were relatively comfortable, with dry weather prevailing across most parts of the city, providing a brief respite from the soaring temperatures recorded in the past few days, even reaching up to 40 degree Celsius on March 10.The daytime temperatures recorded on March 12 by the IMD’s Colaba and Santacruz observatories were 32.7 degree Celsius and 33.1 degree Celsius, which was around 1.1 degrees above normal in the case of Colaba and almost normal in the case of Santacruz.Minimum temperatures, or night temperatures, remained sharply above normal, though, as the IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatory recorded 25 degrees and 23.9 degrees, which was 2.3 degree and 3 degree above normal.Weather observer Abhijit Modak said the heat is intensifying again after a brief dip earlier this week, as was expected.“After Wednesday’s brief dip, the spike has begun again from Thursday. Heatwave-like conditions are continuing from eastern Mumbai suburbs such as Vikhroli onwards into the interior Konkan region,” he said. According to Modak, coastal-interior transition zones such as Vikhroli, Thane and Navi Mumbai are currently the worst affected, as they experience interior-like heat combined with coastal humidity, making the “real feel” temperatures extremely harsh, he said.Some forecasters, though, said that official heatwave conditions may not necessarily materialise. Independent weather forecaster Athreya Shetty said the anticyclone over the Arabian Sea weakened and was still settling into position, which could influence temperature patterns to an extent.“There may be brief north-easterly winds in the morning due to a ridge from the anticyclone, which could push maximum temperatures slightly higher. That is likely why the IMD issued the warning, though it may not translate into a full-fledged heatwave for the city,” he said.
