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On Christmas Eve, Pashan records season’s lowest temperature
Parts of Pune witnessed single-digit morning temperatures with the mercury dropping to 9.7 degrees Celsius at Pashan
A day before Christmas, parts of Pune witnessed single-digit morning temperatures with the mercury dropping to 9.7 degrees Celsius at Pashan. This was the lowest temperature recorded in the city in this winter season and it has brought Pune into the category of coolest city in the state on December 24. At the same time, Shivajinagar also recorded the lowest minimum temperature of this winter season at 11.3 degrees Celsius.
For the last week, the city has been experiencing fluctuation in the minimum temperature. On Monday, December 18, both minimum and maximum temperature was recorded at 14.5 and 27.9 degrees Celsius Consequently. The minimum temperature dropped by 2 degrees on December 20, and it was recorded as 12 degrees Celsius, within the next 24 hours the temperature went up by 2 degrees, and on December 21, the minimum temperature was recorded as 14 degrees Celsius. The city experienced a decreasing trend in minimum temperature towards the weekend and from 13.5 degrees Celsius on Friday, December 22, it dropped to 11.3 degrees on Sunday, December 24.
On Sunday, Chandrapur recorded second second-lowest minimum temperature in the state at 11.2 degrees Celsius. The majority of areas in the state have recorded minimum temperatures at normal to below-normal levels of 1-2 degrees Celsius. While Central Maharashtra, Marathwada, and Vidarbha sub-divisions recorded temperatures between 11 to 15 degrees Celsius, in the Konkan region the majority of the areas recorded temperatures between 18 to 20 degrees Celsius.
Notably, Pune recorded lower temperatures than Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in the western Maharashtra region where mercury was 15 degrees Celsius which is above the normal level of 1.7 degrees.
Dry weather
The city is experiencing dry weather for the past 3-4 days. As there is no strong system over the state, cooler northerly winds not only penetrate the state but also have a strong impact over Central Maharashtra and the Vidarbha area, resulting in a drop in the minimum temperature. Pune city also experiencing a strong impact of cooler winds and a fog condition can be seen during the night and early morning hours in the city, said a senior meteorologist from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
Forecast
The current trend of decreased temperature is likely to continue in the city for the next 24 hours. Therefore, citizens may experience cool weather on Christmas day. However, from December 25 onwards, the temperature is expected to increase in almost all the areas in the state.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather and forecasting division, at IMD, Pune said, “As the wind direction is expected to change in the upcoming days, the minimum temperature is likely to be more than normal level over Maharashtra till December 30. North-Central Maharashtra, Vidarbha may have lower temperatures due to the influence of northerly winds. In Pune, the weather will be mainly dry in the upcoming week. However minimum temperature will be above normal level by 2-3 degrees Celsius.”
The temperature data for the last five years highlighted that, in recent years, there were only two incidents where the minimum temperature reached single digits in Shivajinagar. The lowest minimum temperature in the last five years was recorded in the year 2020, at 8.1 degrees Celsius. However, the number of incidents has been higher when the minimum temperature was recorded at normal or above normal levels in the last five years.
