AQI in moderate levels due to firecrackers, city hottest in the state

Mumbai: Mumbaikars celebrated a stuffy and uncomfortable Diwali on Thursday amid a combination of high temperatures, with the Santacruz observatory recording a maximum two degrees above normal at 36.7 degrees Celsius, and average air quality at 4pm was in the higher end of the moderate category of 167. As it approached the night, air quality worsened in several places due to the bursting of firecrackers, seeing an escalation in the PM2.5 pollutant.
Weather conditions along with the leftover pollution led to a hazy smog filled morning, which began worsening as evening neared. AQI in Sewri was particularly bad, in the very poor category at 301 by 8pm. Monitors in Byculla, Kandivali West, Kherwadi in Bandra East, Malad West recorded poor air quality, while all the rest 17 stations had moderate AQI levels between 101 and 200.
Mumbai once again recorded the hottest temperature in the state at 36.7 degrees Celsius, although Colaba recorded a maximum of 34 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature showed no respite either, clocking in at 25.3 degrees Celsius in Santacruz, three degrees above normal, and 26.6 degrees Celsius in Colaba, 1.7 degrees Celsius over normal. This was also the highest minimum temperature in the state.
Despite the prediction by IMD for light showers, none were seen. Instead, humidity at 62% and 60% added to the stifling atmosphere.
As per the IMD’s inference, an upper air circulation over the Southwest Arabian Sea and the cyclonic circulation over Gulf of Mannar were influencing factors. Temperatures are likely to increase or stay in the same range in the coming week.