Sudden rain catches citizens off guard

Nagpur: A sudden squall on Saturday evening brought rain and strong winds giving respite to citizens who were caught unaware. Those travelling on two-wheelers were forced to find shelter from the rain which continued for nearly two hours.
The Met department attributed the change in weather pattern to increasing humidity which led to pre-monsoon activity. Till the time of filing this report, official data showed that 0.5mm rain was registered in Nagpur while Sironcha in Gadchiroli district received 26mm.
Rains brought the city’s temperature down to 43.8 degree Celsius. Barring Wardha, the highest temperature recorded in the region was below 45 degree Celsius. Wardha had a high of 45.5 degree Celsius. Even Chandrapur, which was searing a couple of days ago, was only 42.6 degrees, a deviation of -3.4.
Readers called in to report tree collapse in some areas. A huge tree near Telangkhedi temple toppled during the rainstorm. According to green activists, major roots of the tree were damaged during road construction and few remaining “could not handle the nature’s wrath”. Two fully-grown trees collapsed in Gokulpeth and Civil Lines too.
Strong winds caused power failures in many parts of the city. In some places tree branches landed on power cables snapping them. In other places the cables got detached from poles. It took between 15 minutes to an hour to restore supply.
The affected areas were Central Bazar Road, Harihar Mandir, Kawrapeth, Subhan Nagar, Pardi, Besa etc. There were many small breakdowns in the city, which were not recorded by SNDL and MSEDCL.
The Met department had forecast five days of intense heatwave two days ago. Partly cloudy sky and few spells of rain are expected to hit districts like Nagpur, Chandrapur, Akola, Wardha and Yavatmal in the next two-three days.