Pune: Met officials predict 2 more days of afternoon showers

PUNE: The India Metrological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall activity in the city on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. While this may inconvenience working professionals commuting home from work, the showers are likely to provide relief from the scorching heat by bringing the temperature down by 2°C-3°C.

“Due to a cyclonic circulation over Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and the presence of moisture in the atmosphere, several places in the state, including Pune, will receive rainfall in the afternoon hours at least over the next two days,” Anupam Kashyapi, the head of weather at IMD, Pune, told TOI on Sunday. “The chances of receiving rainfall on April 17 is also there, but not much. The day temperatures will come down by 2°C to 3°C. On these days, the percentage of humidity would be a little high in the morning.”

On Sunday, the maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 39.9°C, while the minimum temperature was 20°C. Several parts of the city and the district received good rainfall and there was some hailstorm activity as well in some tehsils, said the officials of the state agriculture department. The Met department, however, recorded only 0.2 mm rainfall till Sunday evening.

The weather officials said some parts of the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions — particularly the southeastern parts — will experience hailstorm activity over the next two days. The same is also in store for some areas in Madhya Maharashtra. According to IMD data, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions are currently sizzling with day temperatures hovering around the 40°C-mark. “The hailstorm activity will have a direct impact on the temperature. Most importantly, the regions will not experience heatwave conditions due to a fall in day temperatures in other parts of the state — like in Pune and adjacent districts,” said the Met officials.

Kripan Ghosh, the head of the Agromet division of Pune, said since most of the farmers have harvested their field crops, the hailstorm will not cause major agricultural losses in the state. The field units of the division and the agriculture department on Friday issued an advisory directing farmers in the Vidarbha region to not spread turmeric out in the open, as some places may experience hailstorms.