Season’s coldest day for Mumbai, minimum temperature dips to 15°C

The IMD said the minimum temperature is likely to further dip over the next 48 hours with a gradual decrease in the temperature.

At 15 degrees Celsius, Mumbai on Tuesday recorded the season’s lowest minimum temperature. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded the minimum temperature which is 2.4 degrees C below normal, while the Colaba observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 17 degrees C, 2.8 degrees below normal.

The IMD said the minimum temperature is likely to further dip over the next 48 hours with a gradual decrease in the temperature. As per the 48-hour city forecast by the IMD, the minimum temperature will hover around 14 degrees C, while the maximum temperature will be around 28 degrees C, both below-average temperature for December.

The maximum temperature recorded on Tuesday was also 2 degrees Celsius below normal at 29.9 degrees C.

Earlier, the lowest temperature recorded this season was 15.8 degrees C on December 23. Last year, the lowest recorded temperature in December was 16.4 degrees C and the year before that it was 14.4°C.

“The fall in temperature is due to the cold northerly to north-westerly winds from the northern plains in association with the passing of a western disturbance. Some pockets in Mumbai could see a further dip in temperature,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general of the western region, IMD.

Powai was the coldest in the city at 12.8 degrees C, followed by 13.8 degrees C at Goregaon and 13.9 degrees C minimum temperatures at Kandivali. Worli recorded the highest minimum temperature, nearing 25 degrees C, on Tuesday.

In the state, Jalgaon recorded the lowest minimum temperature at 10.6 degrees C, followed by Nashik at 11.8 degrees C.

Following the dip in the temperature, the Air Quality on Tuesday entered the poor category. The Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded by the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) was 239, which is categorised as poor. BKC recorded “Very Poor” AQI followed by at 341, followed by Mazgaon at 336.

According to the SAFAR’s Air Quality Forecast for the New Year-2021, the AQI will remain in the poor category for the next three days. “The AQI will be the upper end of the poor category on New Year day 2021. The AQI of the new year day of 2021 is likely to be the same as 2019,” read the forecast.

An AQI of 293 is forecast for 1 January 2021. AQI is a mean of pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions as a single value.

The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. “Wind over Mumbai during this period will be Northeasterly which is highly polluted because of continental nature. The low wind speed associated with low temperature (18- 19 degrees C) will lead to very less dispersion, these factors are working towards the deterioration of air quality,” read the forecast by SAFAR.

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