City shivers at 15 degrees Celsius on New Year's Day

Mumbai: The first day of the year in Mumbai was also the coldest this winter as the minimum temperature dropped to 15 degrees Celsius Wednesday morning. The minimum temperature at the Santacruz weather observatory dropped to 15 degrees Celsius which is considered the lowest this season, while the Colaba weather station recorded 17 degrees Celsius.

Across the Mumbai region, Panvel recorded the lowest temperature at 11 degrees Celsius, followed by Borivali and Kandivali — both at 13 degrees Celsius. Bhandup and Mulund in the eastern suburbs recorded 14.4 degrees Celsius, while the remaining areas witnessed temperatures ranging between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius.

Worli was the warmest across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) at 20.1 degrees Celsius.

On Tuesday, the IMD had said that this was the first December since 2009 when the minimum temperature in Mumbai had not dropped below 16 degrees Celsius. Tuesday’s minimum temperature was 16.4 degrees Celsius.

Even the maximum temperature Tuesday — 28.8 degrees Celsius — fell below the 30 degrees Celsius mark for the first time this season.

“The much-awaited winter finally arrived on the New Year morning Wednesday. Both maximum and minimum temperatures plummeted in the last two days,” said K.S. Hosalikar, deputy director general, IMD Mumbai, to The Asian Age.

“After a long delay, the conditions for arrival of winter have surfaced, which means temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius in the coming days. This is attributed to the cooler northern winds over the city,” said an IMD official.