Mercury rising, humidity high

MUMBAI: As monsoon has not yet completely retreated from the city, the weather is swinging between unbearably hot and pleasant since the past few days. The stark contrast between high mercury levels in the afternoon and cool evenings is likely to become even more pronounced in the coming days.
As of now, not just day time but even night temperatures are inching up. On Tuesday, for instance, Colaba recorded a maximum temperature of 32.5 degree Celsius whereas the minimum temperature was 26.2 degree Celsius. This weather remained more or less consistent till Thursday when the maximum temperature rose to 33.6 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature dipped to 25.4 degree Celsius.
The meteorological department, though, has said it is not as hot as people feel. "Temperatures are near normal. People feel hot only because humidity levels are high," said V K Rajeev, director of weather forecast, Indian Meteorological Department, Mumbai.
On Friday, relative humidity was 92% in Colaba and 79% in Santa Cruz. Evening humidity levels, though, had dipped to 85% and 69% in Colaba and Santa Cruz, respectively. Maximum temperature, too, fell by a degree from the day before.
"There was good cloud cover on Friday, which is why the weather was comparatively cooler in the afternoon," said a weather deparetment official.
The met department has said there are chances of rain accompanied with lightning.
"The cloud cover indicates that there may be light showers along with thundershowers in parts of the city and the suburbs in the next few days. This would be a sign of monsoon's withdrawal and once these thunder showers stop, we will have to bid adieu to the monsoon," said the official.
For the next two days, the met department has predicted cloudy skies with light rains in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 33 degree Celsius and 25 degree Celsius, respectively.