India’s second summer is emerging as a distinct post-monsoon heat phase, with large parts of the country recording maximum temperatures 1-4°C above normal between October 1 and 7. The pattern is significant for cities because the heat is not confined to one unusually hot afternoon: daytime temperatures have remained elevated across western, central and parts of northern India, while some urban areas have also recorded warmer-than-normal nights.
The India Meteorological Department’s temperature maps, cited in the report, show above-normal maximum temperatures across Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and adjoining regions. Mean temperatures were also above normal across central, western and southern India during the first week of October, although the departures were more moderate, generally between 1°C and 2°C. Minimum temperatures followed a mixed pattern, with above-normal pockets in parts of northwest and southeast India.
This distinction between daytime peaks and average temperatures matters for understanding the urban heat burden. A city can experience a sharp afternoon rise without a sustained regional heat pattern, but the evidence in this period points to a broader post-monsoon transition. The report says temperatures have remained higher than normal across several areas as rainfall and cloud cover reduced and dry winds became more influential.
Delhi provides one of the clearest signals. The capital recorded a maximum of 37.1°C on October 3, which experts cited in the report said was only the second time in about a decade that Delhi had reached 37°C during this period. Safdarjung recorded 35.7°C, 1.5°C above normal, while Lodhi Road reached 35°C, 2°C above normal. The night-time readings were also elevated: Safdarjung recorded a minimum of 24.1°C, 3.1°C above normal, and Lodhi Road recorded 23.4°C, 3.4°C above normal.
The combination of hot afternoons and warm nights is one of the more important features of the current pattern. The supplied evidence does not establish a direct health or energy impact, but it does show that the heat is affecting more than the peak period of the day. For urban systems, that makes the timing and duration of heat relevant, not only the highest temperature recorded at a weather station.
Western India has seen some of the strongest departures. Ahmedabad recorded 37.6°C, 1.6°C above normal, while Gandhinagar reached 36.5°C, 1.5°C above normal. In coastal Maharashtra, Alibaug recorded 35°C, 2.6°C above normal. Mumbai’s Santacruz station recorded 37.6°C, or 4.5°C above normal, one of the most pronounced departures cited in the report.
The Mumbai reading is particularly notable because the city is commonly associated with a humid coastal climate rather than the dry heat of Rajasthan or Gujarat. The report also says the India Meteorological Department has forecast hot and humid conditions over Konkan and Goa between October 8 and 10. That forecast indicates that the post-monsoon transition is not simply a question of inland temperatures: coastal urban areas can also experience a combination of heat and humidity as the seasonal pattern changes.
The explanation offered by the IMD centres on atmospheric circulation. IMD scientist Naresh Kumar said an anti-cyclonic circulation over Gujarat and adjoining areas, together with winds from the Arabian Sea, contributed to the above-normal temperatures. He said northwesterly winds normally bring cooler air to north India, but winds from the Arabian Sea during this period contributed to higher temperatures. The circulation pattern was also cited as a reason for elevated temperatures in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
This explanation shows why the temperature pattern cannot be read only through local urban conditions. Cities experience heat at street level, but the immediate weather is shaped by larger regional systems. Delhi’s temperature, for example, is not explained only by its buildings or traffic. Mumbai’s reading is not explained only by its coastline. The meteorological conditions described by the IMD connect urban heat observations to wind direction, circulation and the retreat of the southwest monsoon.
The monsoon withdrawal is central to the story. Skymet Weather president GP Sharma said the southwest monsoon had withdrawn slightly earlier than usual this year and had moved rapidly across the country in the preceding days. The withdrawal had covered Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan by late September and subsequently progressed through several other regions. Maharashtra and Goa were described as completely dry, while withdrawal had also covered parts of north Telangana and most of Chhattisgarh.
As the monsoon retreats, cloud cover and rainfall reduce. Sharma said dry westerly winds begin to dominate and daytime heating becomes stronger. This creates the conditions for what he called the country’s “second summer”, a renewed spell of hot and dry weather after the main monsoon season and before the cooler part of the year becomes established.
The phrase is useful because it captures a seasonal transition that is often treated as a short interval between monsoon and winter. In the evidence supplied here, that interval has its own temperature behaviour. Clearer skies, changing wind patterns and reduced rainfall are combining to produce above-normal heat across a wide geographical area. The period is therefore not merely a continuation of the summer that preceded the monsoon; it is a separate post-monsoon phase with its own urban implications.
The geographical spread is also important. Rajasthan and Gujarat have recorded some of the strongest increases in daytime temperatures. Churu, Pilani and Sri Ganganagar approached 40°C, while Jaisalmer, Barmer, Phalodi and Bikaner recorded between 38°C and 39°C, according to the report. Pilani recorded 39.7°C, while Barmer, Chittorgarh and Jaisalmer recorded 38.6°C, 38.2°C and 38.5°C respectively. Jaisalmer’s maximum was 1.1°C above normal.
These figures show that the most intense heat is concentrated in areas where temperatures around 40°C are not unusual during this part of the year. Sharma said locations such as Naliya and Bhuj in Kutch, and Jaisalmer and Barmer in Rajasthan, can reach around 40°C after the monsoon withdraws. The significance of the current episode is therefore not that every location has experienced exceptional heat, but that above-normal conditions have extended across many regions and into cities that are not usually grouped with the country’s hottest inland locations.
The report also places the Indian readings within a wider regional setting. Temperatures in western Pakistan and adjoining Iran were already in the 42-43°C range, while parts of central Pakistan had crossed 40°C. This does not establish a direct cause for the temperatures recorded in Indian cities, but it provides context for the regional scale of the post-monsoon heat pattern.
The evidence does not support attributing the current conditions directly to El Niño. Sharma said there was no clear evidence of a direct link and that historical data did not establish a consistent relationship between El Niño and early monsoon withdrawal. That qualification is important. A broader climate explanation cannot be substituted for the specific atmospheric factors identified in the report, particularly the anti-cyclonic circulation, changing winds and monsoon retreat.
For cities, the immediate institutional question is how seasonal heat is represented in planning and operations. The report does not provide data on electricity demand, water consumption, heat-related illness, transport disruption or worker exposure, so those impacts cannot be established from the supplied evidence. It does, however, show that urban authorities are dealing with a heat window that appears after the traditional summer season and during a period often associated with improving weather.
The same evidence also shows why city-level temperature monitoring needs to distinguish between maximum, mean and minimum temperatures. Mumbai’s 37.6°C maximum and Delhi’s 24.1°C minimum at Safdarjung describe different forms of exposure. A single maximum temperature captures the sharpest part of the day, while a warmer minimum indicates that the city is not cooling as much overnight. The report’s data therefore points to a more complex urban heat profile than a simple ranking of the hottest afternoon.
The immediate forecast, according to the IMD scientist quoted in the report, was for little variation over the following few days, with temperatures expected to remain broadly similar. The IMD also forecast hot and humid conditions over Konkan and Goa from October 8 to 10. These near-term signals suggest that the current episode was expected to persist rather than disappear immediately after one high reading.
What the evidence confirms is a broad, above-normal post-monsoon heat pattern across western, central and parts of northern India, driven in the supplied account by monsoon withdrawal, reduced cloud cover, dry westerly winds and regional circulation. What remains unestablished is the precise effect on urban health, infrastructure demand and household costs. Those questions require city-level data beyond the temperature observations cited here. For now, the most important shift is conceptual: India’s heat calendar does not end when the southwest monsoon retreats. In many cities, the retreat itself can open another period of sustained heat.
