Maha experiencing harshest winter in past five years
Pune woke up to a biting morning on Tuesday, December 9, with six weather stations registering single-digit temperatures - marking the city’s coldest morning so far this winter
PUNE: While Maharashtra is experiencing its harshest winter in the past five years, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reporting the highest number of ‘cold wave’ and ‘severe cold wave’ days since 2020; Pune woke up to a biting morning on Tuesday, December 9, with six weather stations registering single-digit temperatures – marking the city’s coldest morning so far this winter.
The temperature in Shivajinagar—IMD’s representative station for Pune—dropped to 8.9 degrees Celsius; while Pashan was the coldest at 8.4 degrees Celsius. Other stations, including Malin, Daund and Talegaon, recorded 9 degrees Celsius; while Baramati was only slightly higher at 9.2 degrees Celsius; signalling widespread cooling across the district.
Even as the mercury dipped, Pune recorded a slight improvement in air quality on Tuesday. The city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) which had breached 200 in the ‘poor’ category on December 8, rose to 160 (‘moderate’) over the last 24 hours. Five out of the six operational monitoring stations reported AQI levels between 109 and 192, while Shivajinagar continued to remain in the ‘poor’ range at 245, making it the most polluted spot in the city.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra logged five ‘cold wave’ days between November and December 9—a significant rise compared to the last four winter seasons that saw either no cold wave events or only brief spells. This year, cold wave conditions have been reported across large parts of Vidarbha, central Maharashtra, Marathwada and several pockets of north Maharashtra; marking a sharp return of winter intensity not seen since before the pandemic. On Tuesday, December 9, Ahilyanagar recorded the lowest minimum temperature of the season at 7.8 degrees Celsius; around 3 degrees Celsius below normal for this time of the year.
According to weather experts, the prolonged cold spell is due to a rare merging of favourable winter systems. Anupam Kashyapi, former head of the weather forecasting division at IMD Pune, explained that strong, dry, northerly winds have been sweeping down into Maharashtra with little interruption. “The amount of humidity in the atmosphere is negligible, and skies have remained clear for several days. This allows rapid radiational cooling at night,” he said. He added that the formation of western disturbances (WDs) this year has stayed within normal limits. “In the last two to three years, frequent and stronger WDs disrupted winter conditions in Maharashtra. This year, with fewer disturbances and La Niña still in its active phase, the state is experiencing more cold days compared to previous winters,” Kashyapi said.
The IMD has forecast that minimum temperatures will remain low across the state till December 11-12 after which, there may be a gradual rise. A yellow alert has been issued for several districts in north and central Maharashtra, warning residents of cold wave-like conditions and advising precautions, especially for vulnerable groups.
