Pune residents heaved a sigh of relief after light to moderate rain was reported from most parts of the city on Sunday bringing much-needed respite from heat. Thunder and strong winds gave way for rains, soon after 2 pm on Sunday and till 5.30 pm, the rainfall recorded in the city was 4mm.
“There has been excess heat for some days now. This, coupled with a north-south trough running between Haryana and Madhya Maharashtra, has given way to some showers. We expect cloudy conditions till Tuesday,” said an
official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD),Pune.
For the past 10 days, the maximum temperature in the city has been increasing gradually. On May 10, Pune recorded its hottest day for the season when the maximum temperature remained marginally shy of 41 degrees Celsius.
Night temperature in the state has been on the rise making it unusually humid for most parts of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha. Vidarbha has been reeling under heatwave conditions with the maximum temperature touching 47 degrees Celsius.
On Sunday, Chandrapur at 46.6 degrees was the hottest in the country. This year, Maharashtra has not been experiencing an active pre-monsoon season. Since March, the city has received 9 mm of rain, deficient by 18 mm for the season.
According to the Met department, Vidarbha will experience rain till middle of the week that is likely to bring some relief from the heat. The other sub-divisions will remain dry.