Saturday 4th coldest Jan day in a decade, chill to last for 24-48 hrs

 If it was chilly on Friday, Sat urday was positively a treat for winter lovers. With mer cury dipping to a low 12. degrees Celsius, Saturday was not only the coldest day of the season, but also among the lowest four January temperatures of the city in a decade. What's more, the chill is likely to stay for another day or two, said the Met department. 

    On Saturday, the minimum tem perature recorded in Colaba was 17.1 degrees Celsius—2.8 degrees below normal, while that in Santa Cruz was 12.4 degrees Celsius—4.7 degrees below normal. Besides the low temperature, the excess winds coming in from the north are re sponsible for leaving Mumbaikars shivering, said the Met department 
    The lowest-ever January tempera ture was in 1962 when the mercury had dipped to 7.4 degrees Celsius. 
    According to the Met depart ment, the cold weather has prevailed in the city because of the persistent Western Disturbance in the north A Western Disturbance is an extra tropical storm or a low pressure system which originates in the Med iterranean Sea and moves east wards. This causes rainfall in Iran Pakistan and India and snowfall in some parts of India. The chill from the northern region is carried to the country's central and western re gions by northerly winds. 
    Many areas in Maharashtra, too saw a dip in minimum temperature on Saturday. While Malegaon Nashik and Ahmednagar recorded 7 degrees Celsius, Pune and Jalgaon recorded 8 degrees Celsius. 
    In Mumbai, the daytime tempera ture also plunged. On Saturday, Co laba recorded a maximum tempera ture of 26.6 degrees Celsius—about 4 degrees below normal, while Santa Cruz recorded 28.3 degrees Celsius—2.8 degrees below nor mal. The evening humidity levels were also low with Colaba and Santa Cruz recording 33% and 35% respectively. 
    "We expect the temperature to remain between 12-13 degrees Celsius for the next one- two days. The Western Disturbance, which is already moving away, will bring about a rise in temperature thereafter. The temperature should then be normal," said V K Rajeev, director of weather forecast, India Meteorological Department, Mumbai.

ALL WRAPPED UP: Citizens greet the cold with shawls, cardigans and colourful scarves