Mercury has been soaring over most parts of Maharashtra, more so for Vidarbha and Marathwada. However, Madhya Maharashtra, hosting Pune and Nasik, also is experiencing wilting heat. Malegaon, Jeur, Sholapur have all breached 42°C, very close to heat wave over the region. Sprawling city of Pune, once lead base of Maratha Empire, is sweltering with extreme heat for the last few days. Pune, a major city of Madhya Maharashtra with a modest elevation of 1,800’, positioned on the lee side of Western Ghats has breached 39°C, on two successive days. Airport observatory at Lohegaon recorded day maximum of 39.3°C, yesterday.
April and May are the hottest months for the city. Pune, invariably reach or cross 40°C mark in the month of April. It has breached sizzling mark of 43°C, earlier also on few occasions in this month. Going by the heat indicators for the city, it is likely to cross the pervasive mark of 40°C, anytime soon.
It is evident that City of Pune, more often than not, crosses 40°C, almost on regular basis. However, this season, it is rather early to scale this mark in the opening days of the month. The city has a normal rainfall of 6.5mm for April. There are few occasions when the city has not recorded any rainfall during the month, like in April 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Last year, Pune recorded decent showers amounting to 37.5mm in the month.
The temperatures are likely to rise over the next few days. Airport observatory may clock 40°C or more for the next four days or so. Situation is building up for some relief showers for the city, sometime next week. It has not rained there for the last one month or so. The last rain was on 02ndMarch and a rainfall of 2 mm was recorded. Prolonged dry period and clear sky has accumulated the heat and the mercury is slated to rise. Also, Peninsular India trough, presently extending from Tamil Nadu to Vidarbha, is likely to shift westward, closer to the lee side of Western Ghats. There is likelihood of few showers coming up for Madhya Maharashtra and Konkan & Goa anytime between 08th and 10thApril. If so, the city may get, if not big, some consolatory relief during this period. This may break the jinx of dry spell for the twin cities of Pune and Nasik.
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