Northerly winds to cool Mumbai

The temperature in Mumbai is expected to fall below 15 degree centigrade in the next few days, according to experts. Sudden change of wind patterns has led to the entry of cold northerly winds into Maharashtra again, they said.

The island city experienced warm spells in the first week of January due to a sudden change in the path of northerly winds that deflect them away from the city.

However an anti-cyclone was feeding warm and dry winds over Maharashtra, causing a sudden rise in the temperature level especially near coastal region of the state, said V.K. Rajeev, director general of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai.

Experts said that this would be the second coldest spell of the season.

“In the last five years, the second week of January was considered to be the coldest, however, due to the early arrival of northerly winds in the last week of December 2015, the temperature fell to 11.6 degree Celsius making it the coldest December week in a decade,” said Dr. R.N. Sabale, former agricultural meteorologist.

“The northerly winds have started flowing towards Maharashtra again after facing a small deflection at the start of the New Year. The temperature level is mainly dependent upon the types of winds as well as on the changing wind patterns,” Mr Rajeev added.

Meanwhile, apart from night, the day temperatures in the city will also be affected, and are expected to stay below 30 degree Celsius. Also, citing the flow of northerly winds, an expert from the IMD said the climate would remain dry.

So far, a maximum temperature of 35 degree Celsius and minimum temperature of 25 degree Celsius were recorded at daytime during winter this year. And minimum temperature of 11.6 degree Celsius and maximum temperature of 18 degree Celsius were recorded at night, said an official from the IMD.