MUMBAI: At 25.3 degree Celsius, Mumbaikars woke up on Thursday to the
lowest maximum
temperature for the month of January in at least a
decade. The last time Mumbai had experienced such a low day-time temperature for the month was 26 degrees on January 12, 2014.
Weathermen said
minimum temperatures in the city are expected to dip too.
India Meteorological Department’s Santacruz observatory recorded a
maximum temperature of 25.3 degrees, which was 5.6 degrees below normal, and IMD’s Colaba observatory 26 degrees, 4.1 degrees below normal.
Hashtags such as #mumbaiwinter and #mumbaicold trended on social media. @batataa_vada tweeted: “Please step out of your offices for a stroll guys. This lovely weather won’t stay for long #mumbaiwinter.” Another tweet by @rtvnyk compared Mumbai’s weather to the hill station of Mahabaleshwar.
Minimum temperatures were on the lower side as well. IMD Santacruz recorded 15.4 degrees, 1.9 degrees below normal, and Colaba 17.6 degrees, 1.8 degrees below normal.
On Wednesday, night temperatures ranged between 12 and 15 degrees, with Goregaon recording 14 degrees, Kandivli 15 and Panvel 12.
Friday is expected to be as cold and windy.
There has been a gradual dip in temperatures, especially since the beginning of the week, in sharp contrast to the previous weekend when maximum temperatures soared to 33.8 degrees and minimum rose over 20 degrees.
K S Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region), IMD, said,“Night temperatures are likely to dip further. Lowering of day-time temperatures with winds has made Mumbai cold and dry.” Relative humidity in Santacruz was 46% and Colaba 58%.