MUMBAI’S COLDEST DAY YET IN WARMER DECEMBER

MUMBAI: At 18.6 degrees Celsius, Mumbai woke up to its coldest morning of the season on Tuesday. Down from 19.2 degrees Celsius, a day prior. The city’s lowest minimum temperature of the month was recorded on December 14, when the mercury dipped to 18.9 degrees Celsius. The lowest minimum in November stood at 19.8 degrees.

Officials, however, said that prevailing temperatures are still warmer than usual in the city. Meteorologist with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) regional forecasting centre in Mumbai informed, “Minimum temperature on Tuesday was still one degree more than normal. It has been a warmer December overall this year. Now that proper cold wave conditions have set in the north and central India, we will see cooler temperatures in Mumbai as well.”

As per IMD’S seven-day forecast for Mumbai, the minimum nighttime temperature over the next week is expected to fall further, to about 18 degrees Celsius by December 25. The daytime maximum temperature is also expected to fall, touching 31 degrees Celsius around the same time. This may be followed by slight warming before the month ends, as cold wave-like conditions in central India abate.

The city’s air quality index (AQI), meanwhile, remained in the ‘poor’ category at 262.

Officials cautioned that pollution levels will spike again as temperatures fall. “AQI will improve for the next couple of weeks. There will be more fog, and accumulation of pollutants during early morning hours,” explained Dr Gufran Beig, project director, SAFAR.