Mercury near normal,but Mumbaikars feel the chill

Although minimum temperatures in the last few days have been around or slightly above normal,there is an unusual chill in the air giving the effect of lower temperatures. The Met department has attributed this to a phenomenon known as ‘chill factor’.

“Chill factor occurs when temperatures are not that low but because of slightly strong winds such as upto 5 to 6 knots,the feeling is as if the temperatures are lower,” said V K Rajeev,director,India Meteorological Department (IMD). After temperatures dropped to 13.5 degrees in the suburbs and 17.2 degrees in the island city on Monday,they have been within a degree of the normal of 19 degrees in Colaba and within 1.5 degrees of the normal of 16 degrees in Santacruz.

“In the past one or two days,the winds have been a bit strong,due to an overall change in the disturbances in the northern part of the country. Thus,although temperatures have been around normal,the feeling is that they are lower than they actually are,” he said.