Mumbaikars woke up to a chilly Saturday morning as the temperatures in the city dipped to 18.8 degrees Celsius.
On Saturday, the Santacruz observatory in the western suburbs recorded a minimum temperature of 18.8 degrees Celsius, while the Colaba observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the maximum temperature also witnessed a slight drop. According to Mumbai IMD's website, Santacruz and Colaba recorded high temperatures of 31.3 degrees Celsius and 29.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The IMD weathermen have predicted that the temperature in the city will further drop to 16 degrees Celsius in the next 24 to 48 hours, while the trend of temperature drop is likely to continue for the next two to four days.
The drop in temperature has also affected Mumbai’s air quality. According to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality index (AQI) for all pollutants on Saturday was 319 (very poor) with PM2.5 levels in the very poor category at 145 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) against the safe limit of 60 µg/m3, and AQI for PM10 at 233 (moderate).
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".
Besides Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, the chill was also felt in parts of central Maharashtra and Vidarbha on Saturday.
According to the IMD, the minimum temperature in Pune was 13.9 degrees Celsius, while it was 14 degrees Celsius in Nashik, and 11.6 degrees Celsius in Jalgaon. Nagpur recorded a minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius, Akola 15.1 degrees Celsius, and Gondia 9.6 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.