Overview
- Mumbai’s Santacruz station hit 38.9°C on March 5 after 38.7°C on March 4, meeting IMD criteria for a heatwave and prompting a Yellow Alert for hot and humid conditions.
- IMD officials and experts linked the surge to an anticyclonic circulation and easterly winds that delayed the sea breeze, with a broader ENSO transition also cited as a warming factor.
- IMD’s outlook warns that many northwest and adjoining central regions will stay 4–6°C above normal through the week, with some interior districts already touching about 40°C.
- A fresh western disturbance is set to bring light rain and snow to Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from March 7–11, with little impact on the heated plains.
- Air quality in Mumbai remained in the satisfactory-to-moderate range (AQI ~82–84) as health advisories urged hydration and limiting peak-hour exposure, with temperatures likely to stay above normal even if they ease slightly over the weekend.