Minimum temp drops by 4 degrees Celsius

Mumbaikars woke up to a pleasant morning as the city’s minimum temperature dropped by four degrees Celsius within 24 hours and is expected to decrease further in the next 48 hours. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed this to the cold wave conditions in North India, whereby the minimum temperature fell gradually from 21.3 to 16.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning.

IMD has also forecast that the minimum temperature is likely to be in the range of 1418 degrees in the next 48 hours. According to the location-wise minimum temperatures in suburbs, Borivli was the coldest at 13.3 degrees, followed by Powai at 14.7 degrees.

The city will continue to experience low temperatures for few days, with IMD officials predicting a further drop in the minimum temperature. “The cool Northerly winds are causing a dip in temperature. But this will continue for the next few days only. Then, we can expect the temperature to rise again,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general (western region), IMD.

However, the city’s maximum temperature fell by three degrees celsius, coming down from 32.8 to 28.3 degrees celsius at both Santacruz and Colaba observatories. The relative humidity level also fell between 51-59 per cent at both observatories. On the other hand, the air quality index (AQI) entered the ‘satisfactory’ category on account of fast-moving winds over the city. Relatively high wind speed and low humidity kept the pollution levels low. A clear sky and AQI of 93 (satisfactory) has been predicted for Thursday, and the day and night temperatures are expected to be 27 and 17 degree celsius.