Mumbai experiences a chill as the temperature continues to dip

The city and its suburbs experienced a slight nip in the air on Monday as temperatures continued to drop for the second consecutive day.

The city and its suburbs experienced a slight nip in the air on Monday as temperatures continued to drop for the second consecutive day.

The fall in temperatures across Mumbai is mostly due to the cold northerly to north-westerly winds from the northern plains in association with the passage of western disturbance. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

Santacruz recorded a minimum temperature of 16 degree Celsius, a sharp decline of 4.4 degrees from Sunday, and 1.4 degrees below normal. Colaba, too, saw the minimum temperature drop from 21.6 degree Celsius on Sunday to 18.8 degree Celsius, a 1-degree dip from normal.

Maximum temperature also dropped slightly on Monday. Colaba recorded a maximum temperature of 27.6 degree Celsius, a drop from Sunday’s 29.4 degree Celsius and 3.1 degrees below normal. The Santacruz station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) also recorded a maximum temperature of 29.4 degree Celsius, down from 30.9 degree Celsius on Sunday and, a drop of 1.9 degrees below normal.

“The fall in temperatures is mostly due to the cold northerly to north-westerly winds from the northern plains in association with the passage of western disturbance,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general of western region, IMD.

IMD had predicted a fall in temperatures for two to three days from Sunday.

Meanwhile, the air quality in Mumbai and its surrounding areas improved marginally from poor to moderate on Monday. The overall air quality index (AQI) – a pollutant measuring indicator – of 180 (moderate) was recorded by the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

A spokesperson for SAFAR said that the improvement in air quality could be attributed to increasing winds. “It’s a temporary improvement. With temperatures dipping, the air quality is expected to deteriorate further in the coming days,” he said.

Even as the overall AQI improved, some pockets breathed poor quality air. The AQI at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) was 325 (very poor), while Andheri recorded AQI of 249 (poor) and the AQI in Navi Mumbai was 266.