Mumbai: Holi will be cool but hotter days ahead, says India Meteorological Department

Mumbai’s maximum temperature, currently four degrees higher than normal, will witness a drop next week between March 6-7 as the city may experience rainfall along with thunder and lightning due to an odd weather system, says the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

However, It added that the city may bounce back to more hot and humid temperatures post the drizzle by the end of next week, resulting in higher temperatures. 

"The city has already started experiencing cloudy skies towards the evening time. This weather system is due to the interactions of  the westerly winds (carrying moisture responsible for rain) with the easterly winds (dry winds responsible for hot climate). These interactions usually result in thunderstorms and drizzles,” said an IMD official.

“This weather phenomenon causes a temporary drop in temperature but may cause even higher temperature and humidity after the drizzles and thunderstorms are over,” added the official.

Severe weather conditions in several parts of Maharashtra

While other parts of Maharashtra may have a more severe weather conditions as - Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Pune and Aurangabad have been given a yellow alert (thunderstorms and moderate rainfall) for the next 3-4 days owing to the same phenomenon of the winds interacting.

Mumbai has been witnessing an early summer heat from the beginning of the month of February with its maximum temperature even reaching around 38 degrees Celsius which was almost 7 degrees higher than normal. However the city did not set a new record for highest temperature in February this year, as the all-time highest in February was 39.6 degrees Celsius on February 25, 1966.

On Saturday, Santacruz witnessed a minimum temperature of 22.6 °C and a maximum of 37.0 °C, with 61% relative humidity. Colaba experienced a minimum temperature of 23.7°C and a maximum of 34.7 °C, with 74% relative humidity.