Mumbai wakes up to the coldest morning of season after mercury dips to 19 degrees Celsius

The city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far on Tuesday.

The city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far on Tuesday.

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The Santacruz weather observatory, representative of the suburbs and Mumbai, recorded the minimum temperature at 19.2 degrees Celsius, over 3 degrees Celsius below normal. The Colaba weather station, representative of south Mumbai, recorded 22.5 degrees Celsius – a degree Celsius below normal.

Prior to Tuesday, Mumbai had recorded 19.7 degrees Celsius on November 7, but thereafter the minimum temperature had been fluctuating. It increased to 25 degrees Celsius on November 8 and then dropped back to 23 degrees Celsius over the same weekend. The weather bureau on Sunday had predicted a drop in temperatures from Tuesday onwards.

“Cool winds from easterly to northeasterly direction from Monday late at night and early Tuesday morning allowed the night temperature to dip. However, this fall is short-lived as the wind pattern is likely to change again from Thursday,” KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

While the minimum temperature has remained low, the maximum temperature was a degree Celsius above normal in the suburbs, showing high variability through the day. Tuesday’s day temperature at Santacruz was 34.5 degrees Celsius as compared to 34.7 degrees Celsius on Monday.

“This is happening owing to the late setting in of sea breeze and increase in heat radiation through the day due to clear skies,” said an IMD official.

Meanwhile, most parts of interior Maharashtra witnessed cold conditions over the past two days with the lowest minimum temperature recorded at Chandrapur (9 degrees Celsius), followed by Parbhani (10.1 degrees Celsius). Pune recorded 11.3 degrees Celsius, while Nashik recorded 11.8 degrees Celsius.

The IMD has predicted clear conditions for Wednesday, with the maximum temperature to rise to 36 degrees Celsius and minimum temperature to be 21 degrees Celsius.

Air quality fluctuates between moderate-poor categories, 3 areas record very poor air

The drop in temperature did not affect the city’s air quality on Tuesday morning, as the pollutant measuring indicator – air quality index (AQI) – for PM2.5 pollutant was recorded at 142 (moderate), according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), even though a thin layer of haze was witnessed. By Tuesday afternoon, the AQI worsened to 221 (poor) but by evening, as the sea breeze set in, it fell to 183 (moderate). Chembur had the worst air quality in the city at 322 (very poor), followed by Malad at 309 (very poor) and Mazagaon 305 (very poor). While all other locations in Mumbai recorded ‘moderate’ air quality, Worli had the cleanest air on Tuesday at 86 (satisfactory).

SAFAR categorises AQI levels for PM2.5 in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201-300 as poor; 301-400 as very poor and above 400 as severe. An AQI of 166 (moderate) has been predicted for Wednesday.