Even as the city gears up for festivities, the weather is likely to add to the joy of Mumbaikars as according to weathermen, this week might see the minimum temperatures dropping to around 14 degree or so.
Officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that entire Maharashtra will witness lower temperatures due to the strong effect of the Northerlies that bring cooler winds. "While the city will witness a significant dip in temperatures, other regions, mainly north Madhya Maharashtra, will be under the effect of cold waves until December 28," an official from the weather department said.
In the last few days, including Sunday (33.8 degree Celsius), the city saw maximum temperatures rising along with the minimum temperatures.
Rajesh Kapadia, a private weather forecaster, who also runs the popular weather blog "Vagaries of Weather", said that there will certainly be some relief during this week. "December 25 will be a bit cooler and from December 27 or 28, temperatures will dip. Also, due to the strong Northerly winds, daytime temperatures will see a drop of about 2 to 3 degree Celsius and will range between 29 to 30 degree Celsius," he said. He also added that Thursday and Friday nights are likely to be more pleasant as minimum temperatures could drop to around 14 to 16 degree Celsius at Santacruz, while Colaba may record 17 to 18 degree Celsius.
As per Kapadia, Pune too will see a drop in night temperatures around Wednesday and Thursday. The mercury can dip to 8 to 9 degree Celsius in Pune. Nashik too will feel cold at around 7 to 8 degree Celsius on Wednesday and Thursday.
However the bad news for Mumbaikars is that the maximum temperatures are most likely to be in the 33 to 34 degree Celsius range after Sunday, due to the effect of Easterly winds.
Mumbai's Air quality in Poor category
Mumbai's air quality has remained in the poor category with overall AQI of 213. According to data of System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which monitors Air Quality Index (AQI) at 10 stations in the city, three stations including Malad (310), Andheri (338), and BKC (340) had poor PM 2.5 AQI.
