That chill may not mean winter yet, says Met

If you thought that the nip in the air would soon make you shiver, hold on. The temperatures that were giving the city a much-desired ‘winter’ will not be there for too long, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials.

While the temperature has already moved one degree higher than the lowest recorded, 14, they say that the coming days may see a further jump of three degrees.   

“The cold winds coming from the North are mainly responsible for the fluctuating temperatures during this season. It was these same cold waves which resulted in a sudden dip in the city’s temperature on Monday. The intensity of these winds has decreased now, and if you see today (Tuesday), the temperature has slightly increased,” said RV Sharma, deputy director general (western region), IMD.

On Tuesday, the minimum temperature in the city was measured at 15.1 degrees centigrade, slightly higher than Monday’s. The good news is that temperatures will remain good/pleasant till the weekend.

“Temperatures will not be like the last week of November or the first week of December, when people were sweating. It will be pleasant, and people may not require the sweaters they were wearing for the past two to three days,” added Sharma.  

Climatologist Dr Surendra Thakurdesai said: “Basically, the wind movement is dependent on the atmospheric pressure. When the atmospheric pressure at one place is lower than the other, the wind starts moving towards that area. The cold wind flow stops, as the atmospheric pressure increases.”

He added that once the incoming cold wind stops, the local wind which gets heated up due to sunlight does not cool down. “And this heated wind is responsible for the increase of temperature in the area. The same thing will happen in Mumbai in coming days, resulting in slight increase in temperature. But it will not be much and the temperature will range between 15 to 18 degrees centigrade.” 

However, officials added that the city can still be hopeful of a cooler winter. “A lot depends on the condition of the places in higher altitudes. Snow fall in regions like China and Russia would again send a wave of cold wave,” added Sharma. 

Nashik city, in the meantime, registered the minimum temperature of 6.4 degrees centigrade on Tuesday,

   (With inputs from Vaishali Balajiwale)