PUNE Despite the southwest monsoon officially declared in Pune on June 5 by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rainfall activity has since significantly reduced.
As of June 14, Pune reported a total rainfall of 56.9 mm against its normal quota of 63.7 mm.
On Monday, the city reported no rainfall. IMD reported a maximum temperature of 32.4 degree Celsius and a minimum temperature of 23.3 degrees Celsius.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather forecasting, IMD Pune, said that multiple weather systems over the city and Maharashtra have been less active than earlier.
“The off-shore trough line which brought good rainfall to the city is now less marked. Today, it runs from Southern Maharashtra to North Kerala. The formation of a system over the Bay of Bengal, which was expected to intensify, has not. Its trough was expected to cover Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha and adjoining areas. However, this trough has moved north-Northwestwards, thus not reaching our state. The system is now over south Jharkhand,” said Kashyapi.
“The westerlies are partially strengthened. Its strength also depends on the depth of westerlies. Even though there was a gradient over Arabian Sea, the strengthening of the westerlies did not materialise. All of these reasons contributed to less rainfall so far in June, despite the arrival of the monsoon earlier than its predicted date,” said Kashyapi.
{{/usCountry}}“The westerlies are partially strengthened. Its strength also depends on the depth of westerlies. Even though there was a gradient over Arabian Sea, the strengthening of the westerlies did not materialise. All of these reasons contributed to less rainfall so far in June, despite the arrival of the monsoon earlier than its predicted date,” said Kashyapi.
{{/usCountry}}He added that in the next few days, Pune is on the leeward side of the Sahyadris.
“This has affected the rainfall in Pune city and Pune district. On June 15 and June 16, rainfall is likely to get better due to strengthening westerlies. There is moisture in the air and so there are chances of thunder activity on these two days,” said Kashyapi.
IMD has forecast that moderate rainfall in Pune city is likely. “Rainfall is likely to be heavy in isolated parts of the ghat areas around Pune. The day temperature will be around 31 degrees Celsius and the night temperature will be around 22 degrees Celsius in the coming few days,” said IMD officials.
Along with Pune, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Madhya (central) Maharashtra will experience rainfall at isolated places with thunderstorms and lightning till June 16.
“Konkan and Goa may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in the next few days,” said IMD Officials.
Not a monsoon break
Speaking about the monsoon, Kashyapi added that this dry spell cannot be termed as a “monsoon break”.
“As the southwest monsoon is still settling in, this cannot be called a dry spell. Moreover, it is likely that rainfall activity may revive by the end of June and starting of July,” said Kashyapi.