Mumbai’s minimum temperature falls below 20 degrees Celsius, a first this season

The Santacruz weather observatory, representative of Mumbai and its suburbs, recorded 19.5 degrees Celsius, almost a degree above normal. Colaba, the representative of south Mumbai, recorded 22 degrees Celsius, 1 degree above normal.

The minimum temperature in Mumbai and its suburbs fell below the 20 degrees Celsius mark on Friday morning, a first for this season, after rains in the north, weather officials said.

Mumbai, India - November 20, 2019: A huge layer of fog at Aarey colony in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, November 20, 2019. (Photo by Satyabrata Tripathy/Hindustan Times) (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The Santacruz weather observatory, representative of Mumbai and its suburbs, recorded 19.5 degrees Celsius, almost a degree above normal. Colaba, the representative of south Mumbai, recorded 22 degrees Celsius, 1 degree above normal.

The weather bureau said the wind pattern over the city was changing because of the prevailing western disturbance over north India.

“Rains over northern plains and snowfall along the Himalayan region is changing the wind pattern to cool northerly winds over Mumbai,” said SG Kamble, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“Albeit late, winter is finally setting in over Mumbai,” Kamble added.

Friday’s minimum temperature may be the lowest this season but it is much higher than past records during the month.

The lowest all-time December minimum temperature was recorded in 1949 at 10.6 degrees Celsius. The lowest for the decade was recorded during 2011 and 2015 at 11.4 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, even as temperatures dropped in Mumbai, the pollutant measuring indicator - Air Quality Index (AQI) - fell from Thursday’s ‘poor’ level of 202 to 179 or ‘moderate’ on Friday.

“Wind prevailing over the city have reduced moisture and is fast-paced, which is not allowing pollutants to be suspended close to the surface,” Kamble said.

Mumbai witnessed a clear sky on Friday and similar weather conditions have been predicted for Saturday.