PUNE: Parbhani city in Maharashtra's Marathwada region recorded the minimum temperature of 5.5 degree Celsius on Wednesday even as the average temperature rose slightly in many parts of the state, but mostly remained below 10 degree Celsius, IMD officials said.
Besides Parbhani, the minimum temperature in many cities in Marathwada dropped further, primarily due to the increase in the speed of cold air coming from the north India, which had witnessed snowfall in some areas, weather expert Satish Patil told .
"The minimum temperature in Parbhani was recorded at 5.5 degree Celsius on Wednesday, which is a little higher than 5.1 degree Celsius recorded on Monday," a Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agriculture University official said.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Aurangabad city recorded the minimum temperature of 9.6 degree Celsius.
In western Maharashtra, residents of Pune experienced shivers as the night temperature fell to 8.3 degree Celsius on Wednesday morning.
"At 8.3 degree Celsius (recorded at Shivajinagar), Pune's minimum temperature stood well below 12.1 degree Celsius recorded in the famous hill station Mahabaleshwar in Satara district, "an IMD official said.
The minimum temperature of 9.1 degree Celsius and 9.7 degree Celsius was recorded at Pashan and Lohegaon areas, respectively, in Pune.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperature of 8.1 degree Celsius was recorded in Shivajinagar area while Mahabaleshwar recorded the minimum temperature of 11.3 degree Celsius, he said.
Dr Anupam Kashyapi, head, IMD weather department, Pune, said the minimum temperature might rise gradually till December 26 and drop slightly after December 27.
He said the northerly winds are influencing the weather in Pune.
"The overall temperature has risen in some parts of the state, except in Pune and Nashik where minimum temperature remained at 8 degree Celsius. This could be due to some local weather effect," he added.
Meanwhile, after witnessing cold wave-like conditions in the last three days, the minimum temperature in Vidarbha region of east Maharashtra rose slightly on Wednesday.
Nagpur recorded the minimum temperature of 9.2 degree Celsius on Wednesday, a slight rise over the 8.6 degree Celsius recorded on Tuesday.
At 8.0 degree Celsius, Gondia city in Vidarbha remained coldest, Deputy director general of Meteorology (DDGM) M L Sahutold .
The temperature in Yaotmal remained at 8.5 degree Celsius, Bramhapuri 9.2 degree Celsius, Wardha 9.2 degree Celsius, Chandrapur 9.4 degree Celsius, Gadchiroli 9.4 degree Celsius and Akola 10.6 degree Celsius.
Sahu said the weather will remain dry in the region in the next two days.
He said the cold wave-like conditions will not prevail as they depend on the northerly winds coming from the Himalayan region and Jammu Kashmir.
"This wind pattern was witnessed in Vidarbha in the last three days, but the wind pattern has changed today. The anti-cyclonic pattern has risen in Central India as the wind is coming from the side of West Bengal and the south-eastern side, which are not considered cold.
"Due to these factors, the minimum temperature has risen slightly and could go up further in the next two to three days," he said, adding that the cold wave warnings have been removed from Vidarbha.