Vidarbha reels under heat wave while rest of Maharashtra receives rain

Variation in rainfall figures among different sub divisions of Maharashtra is heard off but a stark contrast in the weather between them is not so common. Looks like the dreaded El Nino has already started to show its effect on Maharashtra, as a part of the state is seen getting good showers, while the other is sweltering under heat wave conditions.

According to the latest weather update Skymet Meteorology Division in India, in the last 24 hours Vidarbha continued to sizzle at 45⁰C, while light showers of up to 4 mm was recorded in Pune, lying on the leeward side of the Western Ghats. Ratnagiri along Maharashtra coast also got rain of below 1 mm for the second consecutive day. Besides this, sudden spot rain of approximately 60 mm lashed the city of Aurangabad in Marathwada in a span of 4 to 5 hours.

With many parts of Maharashtra receiving rain on Monday evening, all eyes are now set on the capital city Mumbai, where according to our weathermen conditions look favorable for patchy isolated rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rain in Mumbai will pick up, becoming fairly moderate, from 12^th June onwards and could continue for about two to three days. It is during the same period that Saurashtra region will witness some rain.

Rain will be due to the weather system in the Arabian Sea which until 48 hours back was seen as a well-marked low, but has now turned into a tropical cyclone. Though it is travelling away from the Indian coast towards Oman and Gulf of Eden it will give good amounts of rain.

So far the weather in Mumbai has been partly cloudy with a maximum of 35.3⁰C, recorded on Monday, 9^th June. Humidity has also been around 80%. On Tuesday, till 11:30 am the maximum temperature in Mumbai had touched 36⁰C and the wind speed was strong of about 40 kmph.

Maximums in other cities of Maharashtra on Monday looked like this: Aurangabad remained overcast at 38.7⁰C, Amravati was bright and sunny at 45.4⁰C and Chandrapur in Vidarbha was the hottest city at 47.3⁰C. Heat wave conditions prevailed in Wardha too, where the day’s maximum recorded 46⁰C.

And light isolated rainfall due to a change in the wind flow, predicted around the mid of this week in parched cities of Vidarbha, may bring little change in the soaring temperatures.

“Occurences of weird weather phenomenon’s have indeed increased in the last few month and an El Nino could further aggravate matters. June is a month when temperatures in Maharashtra on a whole settle in the thirties but parts of Vidarbha are still seen burning in intense heat. It is the night temperature that is hovering in the thirties and the day is consistently baking at 45⁰C”, says AVM (Retd) G.P Sharma.