Cyclone over Bay of Bengal cools city down
A cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal brought down temperatures in the city over the last week.
The weather bureau called it a ‘cool spell’.
The maximum and minimum temperatures showed a falling trend from October 18 onwards till Tuesday.
The day temperature was as high as 35.4 degrees Celsius in the suburbs and 32.2 degrees Celsius in south Mumbai on October 18. But wmaximum temperatures gradually dropped by a degree with each day till Tuesday, when the suburbs recorded 31.2 degrees Celsius and south Mumbai stood at 30.2 degrees.
Officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the decline in temperatures to continental air incursions over the western part of the country because of the cyclonic condition over the Bay of Bengal.
“With the withdrawal of the monsoon, there is a shift in wind patterns from maritime to continental. This air is colder ushers in winter. However, it is too early to sustain itself so we cannot say that winter has set in,” said Biswajit Mukhopadhyay, additional director general, IMD.
He added that the conditions were favourable for the continental air because of the cyclonic storm, Kyant, over the Bay of Bengal. “With any tropical storm over the Bay of Bengal, the northwestern part of the country experiences continental air. Once the system passes, the temperature is likely to increase,” said Mukhopadhyay, adding that it’s a temporary trend.
Similarly, minimum temperatures dropped from October 18, when the suburbs and south Mumbai recorded 25 and 27 degrees Celsius, respectively, on October 25.
On October 20, the city recorded it’s lowest minimum temperature this month — 20.6 degrees Celsius.
The past week saw a drop in moisture that resulted in low humidity, the weather bureau added.