Maha cold spell breaks records
Pune registers coldest February day in 100 years, temperature in Mumbai reaches lowest for month in 7 years
MUMBAI/PUNE: The ongoing cool spell in Mumbai broke a record on Saturday, with the mercury dipping to 11° Celsius in the morning — the coldest this winter and the lowest for February since 2012.
While minimum temperature recorded at Santacruz weather station at 11° C was 7 degrees below normal for this time of year, the Colaba weather station recorded 15.6° C, 4 degrees below normal.
Mumbai has been experiencing cool conditions since Wednesday due to northerly winds prevailing close to the surface, the weather bureau said. There have been sharp fluctuations in day temperatures, with a 11.1° C drop in day temperatures between Monday, when it was 35.3° C , and Friday, when it dipped to 24.2° C . This is the lowest temperature for February in 10 years.
“The lower level northerly to north-westerly winds due to the western disturbance and weather systems over northwest parts of the country continue to keep temperatures 6-7° Celsius below normal. Similar conditions are expected till Monday,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy directorgeneral, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Prior to Saturday, the lowest temperature for the season was recorded on December 27 at 12.4 degrees C. The lowest February night temperature over the past 10 years was recorded on February 9, 2012 at 8.8 degrees C. The all-time lowest monthly minimum temperature was recorded on February 8, 2008 at 8.5° C.
On Saturday, most of automatic weather stations in the city recorded minimum temperatures between 11 and 16° Celsius.
FROZEN DEW DROPS IN MAHABALESHWAR
Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra’s popular hill station, woke up to frozen dew drops on Saturday with minimum temperature at Venna Lake dipping to one degree Celsius, the lowest this winter.
The Regional Wheat Rust Research Station at Venna Lake recorded 1 degrees Celsius on its campus, while mercury was at -2° Celsius at the lake location, station head Narute TK said.
PUNE SHIVERS AS MERCURY DROPS
The drop in mercury was also seen in Pune, which recorded the decade’s lowest temperature at 5.2° C. This was also the city’s lowest temperature in February in 100 years, according to IMD data. On December 29, 2018, Pune recorded temperature of 5.9° C.
According to the IMD, northerly winds flowing in from Jammu and Kashmir via Rajasthan and Gujarat are responsible for the cold wave like conditions in the state.