The wait for winters is likely to extend. It will take time for temperatures to go down as per weather forecasting groups, who state that with cyclone Gaja crossing the east coast by Wednesday, winters will elude Maharashtra for quite some time.
Mumbai's maximum temperature has continued to hover around 35 degrees Celsius for the past few days even though the minimum temperature has dropped considerably. On Monday, the maximum temperature recorded was 35.4 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 20 degrees Celsius.
Mahalaxmi-based Rajesh Kapadia, an enthusiast who has been in the field of weather forecasting for over 45 years, said, the entire state, including Mumbai, saw light to moderate rains along with cloudy weather earlier this month. "Mumbai has been experiencing south east winds, which prevents the temperatures from dropping. In fact, with the Gaja cyclone encountering drier air by Wednesday, the weather will again get cloudy and moisture will spread. With south east winds being prominent, the chances of the temperatures rising after Wednesday will only increase," he said, adding that therefore the wait for winters in Mumbai too will extend.
Kapadia said that for temperatures to go down, northwest winds have to become prominent across Maharashtra. "After snowfall in Kashmir and colder northern parts of the country, there was some dip in temperatures in Mumbai as well as the rest of the state. But due to rains in Tamil Nadu, south easterly winds became dominant again."
As per an IMD official, Mumbai is mostly likely to see temperatures dip below 15 degrees Celsius only in late December and January.
LONG, LONG WAIT
As per an Indian Meteorological Department official, Mumbai is mostly likely to see temperatures dip below 15 degrees Celsius only in late December and January.
