November 2020 third-warmest month for Mumbai in over 10 years

However, last year was the warmest November in over a decade since 2009 when the minimum temperature did not fall below 20 degrees Celsius.

November ended up being one of the warmest months over the past decade for Mumbai. The weather bureau on Monday said cooler conditions are expected owing to a drop in temperatures for Mumbai from the third week of December.

File photo: People standing in the Hazy weather near the Bandra Worli Sealink in Mumbai. (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Santacruz weather observatory, representative of the suburbs and Mumbai, recorded the minimum temperature below 20 degrees Celsius only twice this month at 19.2 degrees Celsius on November 10 and 19.7 degrees Celsius on November 7. For the rest of the month, the minimum temperature ranged between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius, making November 2020 the third-warmest month in over a decade.

However, last year was the warmest November in over a decade since 2009 when the minimum temperature did not fall below 20 degrees Celsius at all. The second warmest month was 2010 when the minimum did not drop below 19.4 degrees Celsius. November 2020 equalled the lowest minimum recorded in 2018 of 19.2 degrees Celsius.

KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region), IMD said, “the minimum temperatures this November did not show any declining trend this year. The trend has been similar over the past three to four years. However, the maximum temperatures during November exhibited a very good decreasing trend in south Mumbai and the suburbs. As per climate models, temperatures in Mumbai are expected to drop from the second fortnight of December.”

Over the past 12 years, from 2009 to 2020, the lowest minimum temperatures have hovered between 14 and 19 degrees Celsius. The all-time coldest day for the month was on November 19, 1950, when the minimum temperature dropped to 13.3 degrees Celsius.

Last month, the maximum temperature was 36 degrees Celsius on November 15 and 17, the highest temperature for the season at Santacruz. However, the maximum temperature has been 37.6 degrees Celsius on November 4, 2018, the all-time highest day temperature for the month.

At the Colaba weather observatory, representative of south Mumbai, the highest maximum temperature was 35 degrees Celsius on November 14 and the lowest minimum temperature did not drop below 22 degrees Celsius (on November 11). “The morning nip, however, during the first two weeks of the month was pleasant,” said Hosalikar.

On Monday, the minimum temperature recorded at Santacruz was 2.3 degrees above normal at 22.2 degree Celsius. At Colaba, the minimum temperature stood at 23.5 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was at the normal mark in south Mumbai at 33.2 degrees Celsius, and 34.6 degrees Celsius in the suburbs, which was 1 degree Celsius above normal. Humidity levels were 90 per cent in south Mumbai and 73 per cent in the suburbs.

Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 99, falling under the satisfactory category, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). None of the 10 locations in Mumbai were in the poor category. Worli had the cleanest air with the AQI at 43 (good). An AQI of 97 (satisfactory) has been predicted for Tuesday.