One of the four hottest Januarys ever

On January 23,the maximum temperatures in the city climbed to 36.2°C in Colaba and 35.8°C in Santacruz and continued climbing till January 24,when 36.3°C and 36.4°C were recorded in the city and suburbs respectively.

The ten-year statistics of January weather in Mumbai,issued to Newsline by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD),reveal that such high temperatures were recorded only three times earlier — in 2000,2004 and 2006. In all the cases,the rise lasted just one day,dropping steeply by at least 1 degree Celisus almost immediately.

On January 19,2000,the temperature rose to 36.9°C,but fell to 35.4°C the next day. Then on January 17,2004,the temperature was recorded at a high 37.1°C,but dropped by 5.5°C,to 31.6°C the next day. On 2006 too,the mercury soared to 37.4°C on January 16,and dropped down to 34.1°C the next day.

According to K Sathidevi,director of IMD Mumbai,“Unlike the northern region,cooling doesn’t occur in Maharashtra. Instead it depends on the cold air that comes in. That’s why wind pattern becomes important here. This year,unlike other January months,easterly winds were mostly prevailing over Maharashtra. Easterlies raise the temperature while the northerlies bring it down.”

Sathidevi said another factor that played a major role in the keeping the mercury high in Mumbai and Maharashtra this January was the incessant western disturbances (WD) in the north. “The cloudiness that the WD gave rise to,was extending all the way up to Maharashtra. Naturally when clouds occur,the temperature rises.”

Sathidevi forecast that skies will remain partly cloudy over the next few days and the temperature will stay around 32°C (maximum) and 18°C (minimum). “The winds right now are north-easterly to easterly and there doesn’t seem to be a change occurring soon,” she said.