MUMBAI: Looks like winter has made itself comfortable in Mumbai with the mercury dipping even further. On Tuesday, the temperature in Santa Cruz dropped to 10.2 degrees Celsius after touching 16 on Sunday and Monday. The forecast for Wednesday is even chillier, with the minimum expected to be 10 degrees Celsius.

K Sathidevi, director, Area Cyclone Warning (weather bureau), said the reason for the intense cold was the northerly winds which continue to remain strong, bringing cold waves to the city.

Tuesday's 10.2 degrees is the same temperature as that recorded on January 27, the season's coldest thus far. This is unusual for February as the average for Mumbai during this month is about 17.3, noted weather officials. In 2003, February's lowest temperature was 18.2. Compared to previous years, this has been a chilly month, opening with a recording of 10.9 degrees Celsius in Santa Cruz.

Along with chilly nights, if Mumbaikars have been wea-thering cold winds during the day, blame it on declining maximum temperatures. On Tuesday, Colaba's maximum was 25 degrees Celsius while Santa Cruz recorded a maximum of 24.5. "The maximum temperature is seven degrees below normal and that is why people are bracing cold winds in the daytime. It tends to make one uncomfortable," said Sathidevi.

January has seen 10.2 degrees Celsius twice—on January 15, 1967 and January 27, 2008. Interestingly, it's not just Santa Cruz that has sprung surprises this February. Colaba on Monday dropped to a cool 13.4 degrees Celsius.

Colaba's average in February is 20 degrees Celsius. In the last decade, the lowest that Colaba's temperature has dropped has been 15.3 degrees on February 22, 2005.