The city witnessed cold winds and drop in temperatures by up to 7 degrees Celsius in the last 24 hours. The minimum temperature at Santacruz on Sunday was 15.6 degrees Cel-sius, 2.6 degrees below normal, and it was 19.8 degrees Celsius at Colaba.

The cold winds were a welcome break from the weeklong hot and humid conditions that prevailed in the city. The drop in mercury is owing to a western disturbance that has brought in cold northerly winds to the city, said weather bureau officials.

A western disturbance is an extra-tropical storm that originates in the Mediterranean Sea, moves eastwards and causes rainfall and snowfall in northern India.

“The western disturbance is moving eastwards, carrying cold winds to central and western India. The humidity has dropped because a trough on either side of the coast has drawn in the moisture,” said VK Rajeev, director, India Meteoro-logical Department (IMD), western region. “The temperatures are likely to remain low for the next 48 hours and are expected to climb back up gradually.”

According to IMD, the minimum and maximum temperatures will be 15 degrees and 31 degrees Celsius on Monday.