Mumbai weather update: Cool morning turns hazy as city's AQI reaches unhealthy 275

Mumbai weather update

Mumbaikars awoke on Wednesday to an unseasonably crisp and cool morning, a welcome respite from the city’s characteristic humidity, only to find the relief tempered by a thick layer of smog. The clear skies and temperatures dipping as low as 16.2 degrees Celsius in Santacruz offered a brief taste of winter comfort, but a sharp decline in air quality served as a stark reminder of the city’s persistent pollution woes.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported clear skies and a moderate daytime high of around 33 degrees Celsius, with the pleasant conditions expected to persist overnight. Minimum temperatures are forecast to drop to nearly 18 degrees Celsius in the late night and pre-dawn hours. However, the thin haze that lingered across the skyline significantly muted the potential of a picture-perfect November day.

This degradation in air quality comes shortly after a spell of intense rainfall had briefly cleansed the atmosphere. The downpour had flushed out suspended dust and particulate matter, leading to a short-lived phase of clear skies and improved air. But as the rains receded, pollutants accumulated rapidly, swiftly undoing those recent gains.

By Wednesday morning, the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) had surged to 275, firmly placing it in the ‘unhealthy’ category and marking a major jump from the moderate levels seen earlier in the month. The IMD’s data revealed several alarming hotspots. The Wadala Truck Terminal recorded a severe AQI of 394, emerging as one of the city’s worst-affected areas. Other locations, including Deonar (329), Malad (323), Colaba (320) and Worli (318), also registered severe pollution levels.

Suburban areas, though comparatively better, remained far from satisfactory. As per the IMD's readings, Kandivali East logged an AQI of 123, while Borivali East recorded 187 — both in the 'poor' bracket. Mankhurd (197), Bhandup West (210) and Jogeshwari (220) recorded poor to unhealthy air, underscoring the widespread nature of the impact.

Meteorological data from the IMD highlighted the regional weather patterns. At the Santacruz observatory, the minimum temperature was a cool 16.2 degrees Celsius with 56 per cent humidity. The Colaba station recorded a minimum of 22 degrees Celsius. No rainfall was reported in the city, with seasonal totals standing at 216.3 mm in Colaba and 106.6 mm in Santacruz. Elsewhere in the region, Mahabaleshwar remained the coolest, with a minimum of 12 degrees Celsius.

Experts have warned that the AQI is likely to worsen as winter approaches, a pattern observed in previous years. As western India transitions from prolonged rains to cooler weather, Mumbai has consistently recorded deteriorating air quality during this seasonal shift, particularly from November to January. The city’s brief encounter with pleasant temperatures is thus clouded by the more pressing and hazardous reality of its air pollution crisis.