After sweltering under the city’s hottest January day since 2016 on Friday, the night ushered in respite for residents of Mumbai as the minimum temperature dipped below normal to 16.2 degrees on Saturday morning. However, senior scientists have indicated that the high day-time temperatures are here to stay over the weekend.
Data from the India Meteorological Department showed that while the Santacruz station registered a minimum temperature of 16.2 degrees on Saturday morning, which is 0.6 degrees below the normal, the Colaba coastal observatory logged 20.5 degrees on the recording scales. This marked a significant dip from Wednesday when the maximum temperatures had hovered over 20 degrees.
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The dip during the night came hours after Mumbai reeled under 36 degrees, as per the Santacruz observatory records, on Friday — which was its hottest January day in the past eight years.
Prior to this, the city’s hottest day of the month had been logged in 2016 when mercury levels hit 37.3 degrees.
Changing winds
According to Sunil Kamble, director, IMD Mumbai, the extremities of temperatures are a result of the change in wind directions.
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“While we are receiving easterlies during the day time which has led to a spike of maximum temperatures, we are receiving northerly winds during the night which are driving down the minimum temperatures during the night,” the director had told The Indian Express on Friday.
In its forecast bulletin, the IMD has stated that the minimum temperatures will oscillate between 17-18 degrees for the next week. However, relief from high temperatures during the day is only expected after January 5.
People visit the Marine Drive as haze engulfs the city skyline in Mumbai, on Thursday, Jan 2. (PTI File Photo) 
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