The IMD had issued the first stage of its southwest monsoon forecast for the country as a whole in April. (File)After gruelling heat during March and April, Pune city witnessed a cooler than usual May this year. The highest maximum temperature recorded in May was 40.7 degrees Celsius, making it the 13th coolest May since 1980, as per the temperature records maintained by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The coolest May day this year was on May 12, when the maximum temperature was 33.7 degrees Celsius, mostly due to cloudy sky conditions associated with the development of Cyclone Asani over the Bay of Bengal.
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This year, April over Pune was the second warmest in the last 42 years. The warmest April over the city since 1980 was recorded in 1983, when the highest maximum temperature touched 42.5 degrees Celsius.
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Pune’s highest maximum temperature in March this year was 39.7 degrees, the fourth warmest since 1980 (See box).
Though May began on a warm note, it was unlike the two predecessor months of the pre-monsoon season, which officially ended on Tuesday. While there were heatwave-like conditions over neighbourhoods of Pune district during the initial days of May, it did not intensify into a full-scale heat wave last month, said Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather forecasting division at IMD, Pune.
“During the near-heat wave conditions, the maximum temperatures remained 3 to 3.5 degrees Celsius above normal for a few days in May. In the absence of favourable weather systems, the temperatures were above normal on some days. The pre-monsoon rainfall was poor, leading to higher solar radiation and land heating,” said Kashyapi.
In fact, Pune district recorded only 5.7mm rain against a normal of 30.1mm, during March to May season, making it severely rain deficit by 81 per cent. Maharashtra experienced rainfall deficit of 66 per cent in the last three months.
However, with the incoming strong westerly winds bringing moisture starting from the second-half of May over Konkan, southern Madhya Maharashtra and adjacent Marathwada regions, the mercury soaring trend largely ended.
“The westerly winds from the Arabian Sea caused clouding from time to time and brought the temperatures over Konkan, southern Madhya Maharashtra and some adjacent areas of Marathwada under control. These westerlies, however, did not affect Vidarbha and northern Madhya Maharashtra regions in May,” said Kashyapi.
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