IMD Issues Yellow Alert for Mumbai, Thane; Temperature May Hit 36°C
3 min readMar 21, 2026 09:27 PM IST
After a brief respite over the past week, Mumbai is bracing for another spell of sweltering heat with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a yellow warning of hot and humid conditions between Monday and Tuesday. While the weather bureau has not sounded a heatwave for the week, temperatures are projected to soar over 36 degrees Celsius starting Monday.
Over the past week, as several parts of Maharashtra experienced gusty winds, thunderstorms and hailstorms, Mumbai and its neighbouring districts witnessed a dip in heat levels with day time temperatures oscillating between 30 and 31 degrees Celsius. On Saturday morning, Mumbai’s Santacruz observatory in the suburbs logged minimum temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius, which is 1.4 degrees below normal, while the maximum temperature dipped to 31.3 degrees on Friday afternoon. The city had sought respite, after a prolonged heatwave spell in the first half of March, owing to a western disturbance system in the northern parts of the city.
However, with the western disturbance system waning off, the city is likely to witness a spike in temperatures over the weekend. The IMD has sounded a yellow alert of hot and humid conditions for Mumbai as well as Thane, Ratnagiri and Raigad districts of the Konkan region on Monday and Tuesday. In its five day forecast for the week, the weather bureau has predicted that maximum temperatures will touch highs of 36 degrees till Tuesday, with a dip in temperatures upto 35 degrees on Wednesday.
Meteorologists have attributed the incoming spike in temperatures to delayed sea breeze and westerlies, which play a key role in cooling the city during the day time.
Despite a sharp rise, IMD has sounded no heatwave warnings for the region. In coastal regions, a heatwave is sounded when temperatures cross 37 degrees or 4.5 to 6.4 degrees above the normal for consequent days while a severe heatwave is declared when maximum temperatures record a departure of 6.5 degrees above the normal.
Over the past month, the city has reeled under at least three heatwaves with the first heatwave sounded between March 4 and 5, followed by a severe heatwave between March 9 and 10 and another heatwave on March 13. The city is prone to recording above normal temperatures during March, which marks a period of transition from winter to summer. According to IMD records, the city’s warmest March day was 41.7 degrees, recorded in the year 1956.
