As mercury touches 37, experts warn of a hot November

On Sunday, Colaba registered a maximum temperature of 37 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, while the minimum temperature was 25.6 degrees Celsius. At Santacruz, the maximum was 36.3 degrees while the minimum was 22.4 degrees

Mumbai: The Air Quality Index (AQI) across the city spiked to ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ on Sunday evening, after staying in the moderate and poor categories through the day. AQI levels started rising after sunset, as firecrackers lit up the sky, and spiked further as the hours progressed, data from multiple AQI monitoring stations showed.

As mercury touches 37, experts warn of a hot November

As of 10pm, Chakala in Andheri East recorded the highest AQI in the city at 483, up from 260 at 9pm and 42 at 8pm. At the Bandra Kurla Complex, the AQI spiked to 376 at 10pm from 206 at 9pm and 74 at 8pm, while at Kherwadi in Bandra East, it rose to 354.81 at 9pm from 276.84 at 8pm. At Chembur, the AQI was 334 at 10pm, up from 72 at 9pm, whereas at Mindspace, Malad the AQI at 10pm was 355.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board’s classification, an AQI of 0-50 is considered good; 51-100 satisfactory; 101-200 moderate; 201-300 poor; 301-400 very poor; and 401-500 severe.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature on Sunday touched 37 degrees Celsius in Colaba and 36.3 degrees Celsius in Santacruz. The city had witnessed similar temperatures in the month of November in 2018, when the maximum at Colaba and Santacruz touched 37 and 37.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Weather experts too said high temperatures would persist over the next few days. Mahesh Palawat from Skymet attributed the heat to an anticyclone off the Gujarat coast, which was impacting Maharashtra and the adjoining states of Goa and Madhya Pradesh.

“The anticyclone winds in Gujarat are rotating in clockwise direction, with heat from the southwest moving up northwards. The temperature rise is expected to persist for a few more days and the nights are likely to get warmer,” he said.

Dr Gufran Beig, a scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said this might be one of the hottest Novembers the city has seen.

“Winter has been delayed. Once it sets in by the end of November, temperatures may subside a little. But they would still remain on the higher side compared to temperatures at this time of the year due to the effect of the Super El-Nino. We have already seen lower rainfall and now we are likely to see a warmer winter,” Dr Beig said.

On Sunday, as of 11pm, Kherwadi in Bandra East recorded the highest AQI in the city at 218, followed by Shivaji Nagar at 215, and 207 at Mindspace, Malad - all in the poor category. The lowest AQI was recorded in Borivali East at 49.

Experts said the weather would heighten the impact of air pollution due to crackers.

“Due to low wind speed, we are likely to see slow dispersion of pollutants in the air. The smoke from crackers could hang in the air in the mornings, contributing to high AQI,” Dr Beig said.