Temperatures in Mumbai rise, expect warmer days till Thursday

The highest minimum temperature for the month was recorded on January 3 and 12, 2010 and January 28, 2014 at 22.3 degrees Celsius

Night temperatures were significantly above normal in Mumbai on Sunday morning, with the city recording its second highest minimum temperature for January in 10 years.

The increase in temperatures has brought down pollution levels. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT)

The Santacruz weather station, representative of the suburbs and Mumbai, recorded 21.8 degrees Celsius, 5 degrees Celsius above normal. Colaba, representative of south Mumbai, recorded 22.5 degrees Celsius.

The highest minimum temperature for the month was recorded on January 3 and 12, 2010 and January 28, 2014 at 22.3 degrees Celsius.

Officials from the weather bureau said similar conditions are expected through the week. “An upper air anti-cyclonic circulation over the central peninsula is pulling a lot of moisture along the coastline. This is leading to cloud formation, which is increasing temperatures during the day and night,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD). “Similar temperatures are expected till Thursday and a marginal drop is predicted thereafter.”

The day temperature at Santacruz was 33 degrees Celsius, almost 3 degrees Celsius above normal, but Colaba recorded day temperatures close to the normal mark at 29.8 degrees Celsius.

With a rise in temperatures, pollution levels fell from the ‘poor’ to the ‘moderate’ category. An air quality index (AQI) of 190 (moderate) was recorded on Sunday as compared to 218 (poor) on Saturday. AQI levels between 0-50 are good, 51-100 are satisfactory, 101-200 are moderate, 201-300 are poor, 301-400 are very poor, and 401-above are severe. The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) predicted an AQI of 176 (moderate) for Monday.

Colaba recorded 91% humidity while 83% was recorded at Santacruz on Sunday. “With a rise in temperatures and high moisture levels, the inversion layer close to the surface that traps pollutants is not allowed to develop. Pollution levels are expected to remain low through the week,” said Hosalikar.

A partly cloudy sky has been predicted for Monday with day and night temperatures are expected to be 35 and 21 degrees Celsius respectively.