IN WHAT has ushered in respite for citizens, the city experienced below normal daytime temperatures for the third consecutive day on Sunday at 30.2 degrees Celsius, even as the minimum temperatures have seen a significant spike over the past one week. However, Mumbai continued to reel under haze with the overall air quality index (AQI) languishing in the moderate category, at 178, on Sunday.
Data furnished by the India Meteorological Department showed that on Saturday, the Santacruz observatory logged 30.2 degrees Celsius— which is 2 degrees below the typical day time temperatures—while the Colaba coastal observatory recorded 30.4 degrees Celsius.
A day earlier, the city recorded 29.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which was the city’s lowest maximum temperature for the month of December since 2022 when the day-time temperatures dipped to 29 degrees Celsius on December 26.
Meanwhile, days after registering 14 degrees Celsius on the mercury scales on December 16, the minimum temperatures have seen a stark rise within a week with temperatures touching 20 degrees Celsius, which is 2.4 degrees Celsius above normal – on Sunday.
“In a 24-hour cycle, wind direction changes thrice. Currently, we are receiving westerlies early and even the northerly winds are very strong. Because of this, the day time temperatures have dipped. At the same time, there is a system in the Bay of Bengal, which has led to the incursion of moisture and therefore, the temperatures during the night time have spiked,” explained Sunil Kamble, director of IMD Mumbai.
In its forecast bulletin, the IMD has indicated that Mumbai will continue to experience minimum temperatures in the range of 22 – 23 degrees until the end of the upcoming week, while the maximum temperatures are also expected to spike. Furthermore, the weather bureau has stated that the city will witness ‘partly cloudy sky with haze’ throughout the week.
AQI improves albeit marginally
Meanwhile, the city continues to find itself engulfed in haze with the overall air quality hovering in the ‘moderate’ category. On Sunday, even as the AQI improved marginally, it continued to remain higher than usual as the overall AQI touched 178. Of the city’s 23 stations, six locations logged ‘poor’ category air as the AQI surpassed the 200-mark.
The worst air quality was registered in Colaba (273), followed by Borivali East (271), Malad West (266), Mazgaon (258), Kandivali West (234) and Deonar (210). Data reflected that none of the city’s stations experienced ‘satisfactory’ air which is indicative of AQI between 50 – 100.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) bulletin, PM 2.5 was the most prominent pollutant on Sunday.
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