Mumbai recorded its lowest temperature of the season with the minimum temperature dipping to 17.5 degrees Celsius. According to IMD scientists, the city is slated to experience an increase in minimum temperatures, owing to the development of a trough.As Santacruz observatory registered 17.5 degrees on Saturday morning, the IMD’s coastal recording station recorded 20 degrees. Mercury levels dropped during the day time too with the Colaba station recording a maximum temperature of 28.6 degrees, two degrees below normal.
Temperatures are slated to go up again for the next four days, said Sushma Nair, scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai. “The cyclonic circulation over Lakshadweep area and neighborhood persists and caused the drop,” she said, “But temperatures will now rise.”The air quality index in the city continued at a moderate plateau, at 128 following Friday’s 123 according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Only two stations had poor quality air: BKC at 204, and Kherwadi in Bandra East at 211, both due to PM2.5 particles. Most of the other stations had moderate air quality, between 101 to 200, with two, Byculla and Mulund West reaching satisfactory quality between 51 to 100. Good air quality falls between 0 to 50. The app and website of the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) were nonfunctional. The city’s skyline is also witnessing a blanket of haze during the early hours owing to the drop in Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, which is a resultant of the decline in daily temperature.