Weather in Mumbai in March

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, March is the one to avoid. Daytime highs average 38.5 °C and the afternoon is not negotiable — outdoor plans move to early morning or evening.

March ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Mumbai's year. December is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 47 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain falls on only 1 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. Pack for heat management rather than style: shade, water, and a schedule that gives up on the middle of the day.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 28 days of the month clear 35 °C — that is not a heatwave, it is the month; the day swings 16.3 °C from low to high, which means one bag has to cover both. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest March day reached 44.7 °C and the coldest night fell to 14.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 41 mm — roughly 820% of the month's rain in one day.

March is dependably dry, and that reliability is the point: across the twenty years measured, the wettest March on record still only managed 50 mm, and the driest managed 0 mm. There is no meaningful variability to plan around, which makes this one of the few months anywhere that you can build a fixed outdoor itinerary against without a fallback. The wettest single day in twenty years of Marchs brought 41 mm. Rain simply is not the variable that decides this trip — heat, crowds and cost are.

Wind is light at 8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 45%.

How March sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 35.5 °C in February, 38.5 here, 40 in April. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in March

12 hours of daylight, gaining 0.5 hours across the month. That is between Mumbai's extremes of 13.3 and 11 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 27.1 °C in March — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. The sea peaks at 29.7 °C in May and bottoms out at 26.1 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

March in Mumbai versus nearby

If Mumbai is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Virār is a better bet in March — 10.2 °C cooler, the same number of rain days. Pune is a better bet in March — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: March is a compromise. December is 47 points better and is what Mumbai is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Mumbai

See all twelve months in Mumbai, or where else to go in March.