Mumbai, Dec 11 (TOI): The chill has just set in. The weekend started on a cold note for Mumbaikars as the city recorded a minimum temperature of 15.7 °C at the Met's Santacruz Observatory on Saturday. This was 3.1 degrees below normal. The minimum at Colaba was closer to normal at 21.6 °C.

A day earlier, the minimum temperatures were 22 and 17 °C at Colaba and Santacruz respectively.

Weathermen attributed the dip to the change in wind direction. "The winds until now were easterly which are now becoming northeasterly and northerly which brings down the temperature," said VK Rajeev, director of the Met department's western region.

The lower temperatures, however, meant that pollution levels remained high. According to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), Mumbai recorded an air quality index of 238 in the morning which improved to 234 by evening.

An air quality index between 200 and 300 is considered `poor'. Of 10 locations monitored, Andheri, Navi Mumbai and BKC recorded a `very poor' index and Chembur, Malad and Colaba recorded a `poor' index.