Night temperatures start dipping; IMD expects further drop

POLLUTION LEVELS DROPPED IN THE CITY. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX (AQI) OF MUMBAI WAS 133 ON WEDNESDAY, FALLING UNDER THE ‘MODERATE’ CATEGORY

MUMBAI: The city got some relief from the heat on Wednesday after night temperatures dipped two degrees Celsius below normal, the lowest this season. Day temperatures also dropped, though it was still above the normal mark.

In October, the city recorded 10 days when temperatures crossed 37 degrees Celsius.

On Sunday, October 28, the day temperature escalated to the highest for the season at 38 degrees Celsius. Thereafter, the temperatures started declining gradually.

On Wednesday, Santacruz recorded the day temperature at 35.6 degrees Celsius, 1.4 degrees Celsius above normal, and the night temperature at 20.8 degrees Celsius — the lowest so far this season —almost 2 degrees Celsius below normal. Colaba recorded 34.5 degrees Celsius as the day temperature, 0.7 degree Celsius above normal, and 24 degrees Celsius as the night temperature, 0.2 degree Celsius below normal.

The weather bureau said a gradual shift in wind pattern resulted in the drop in temperatures. “From warm easterly winds, the wind pattern is slowly shifting to northeasterly and northerly. As winter approaches, this pattern will become consistent, allowing temperatures to drop further,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather bureau predicted a clear sky for Thursday with day and night temperatures expected at 34 and 23 degrees Celsius.