City sees a rise in temperature; trend to continue

A day after Mumbai witnessed its coldest January day since 2014, the day temperature in the city shot up by 5.5 degrees leading to warmer conditions on Sunday.

A day after Mumbai witnessed its coldest January day since 2014, the day temperature in the city shot up by 5.5 degrees leading to warmer conditions on Sunday.

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The maximum temperature recorded at Santacruz weather station, representative of the suburbs and Mumbai, was 32 degrees Celsius — a degree above normal — compared to 26.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which was the second lowest January day temperature in 10 years and lowest since 2014. Similarly, Colaba weather observatory, representative of south Mumbai, recorded 30.4 degrees Celsius, which was almost normal. South Mumbai had recorded 26 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

The weather bureau had predicted a rise in temperatures for Sunday as the wind pattern changed over the city. “From cool northerly winds over the past four days, the city is now experiencing warm southeasterly winds, which increased the minimum and maximum temperatures on Sunday,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general (western region), India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The minimum temperatures also witnessed a gradual rise on Sunday as south Mumbai and the suburbs recorded 17.5 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius. On Saturday, the minimum temperature recorded by Santacruz observatory had dropped to 15.5 degrees Celsius. Moisture levels were marginally higher than the previous day, as suburbs recorded 54% humidity and south Mumbai 68%.

After four days of ‘poor’ air quality, the city recorded ‘moderate’ air pollution levels on Sunday with air quality index (AQI) at 196. It is expected to be 192 (moderate) on Monday.

The city can expect a clear sky with maximum and minimum temperatures expected at 30 and 18 degrees Celsius for Monday.