Mumbai: The city woke up to its coldest December day in nearly a decade on Monday, with Santacruz recording a chilly 13.7 degrees Celsius, the season’s lowest so far. This marked a sharp dip of 5.6 degrees below normal, with temperatures plummeting by over 11 degrees in just three days. In contrast, the Colaba observatory recorded 19.2 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the sudden drop to prevailing weather patterns and forecasted clear skies throughout the week. The cold spell is expected to persist, with minimum temperatures likely to remain below 20 degrees Celsius until Friday.
https://city.imd.gov.in/citywx/city_weather.php?id=43003
IMD’s bulletin predicts that the minimum temperature will stay under 17 degrees Celsius until Wednesday, gradually rising to 19-21 degrees Celsius by the weekend. Meanwhile, daytime temperatures are anticipated to range between 31-32 degrees Celsius until Saturday.
Social media users on X shared their surprise and delight, noting that Monday’s temperatures made this December the coldest Mumbai has experienced in recent years.
According to an Indian Express report citing historical records, the last time the city experienced colder December weather was in 2015, when the temperature dropped to 11.4 degrees Celsius on December 24. The second-lowest December temperature in the past decade was recorded in 2018 at 14.4 degrees Celsius.
Hottest Day In December Witnessed Few Days Ago
The cold snap came just days after Mumbai endured its hottest December day in 15 years. On December 4, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius, its highest for December since 2008. By Sunday, the weather took a dramatic turn, with the minimum temperature falling to 17 degrees Celsius, an eight-degree drop in just three days.
IMD’s weekly forecast suggests that Mumbai’s minimum temperatures will bottom out on December 10, with predicted highs and lows of 32 and 16 degrees Celsius, respectively. The chill in the air has brought relief to residents who had been enduring unusually warm weather.
