Showers elude Pune, Vidarbha heat wave eases

PUNE: Rain eluded the city and the region on Thursday, despite forecast of light showers in some parts, even as the temperature hovered in the mid-30s, and heat wave conditions started to ease in some parts of Vidarbha.

The Met department’s evening bulletin recorded a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below normal, on a day with skies clearer than expected.Despite traces of rain on Wednesday in some parts of Pune district, only overcast conditions were reported on Thursday from these areas, including Purandar and Baramati, especially towards the evening.
“There was no rain in the city or the district, but there were some traces of rain in parts of Satara district. Cloudy conditions were observed in areas such as Purandar and Baramati, around 5:30pm-6pm on Thursday. We had expected some cloud cover in the city as well, but skies in Pune were almost clear,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather at Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
Kashyapi added that any chances of rain in the state, including the region, were slim over the next 24 hours.
“There are chances of light rain in northern parts of Konkan coast, and there are faint chances of rain in parts of central Maharashtra, including areas adjacent to Marathwada and Vidarbha. There are isolated chances of rain in Vidarbha and Marathwada, between May 11 and May 13, accompanied by thunder and gusty winds blowing at 30km/h to 40 km/h,” he said.
Heat-wave warnings were issued for Vidarbha on Thursday, and will remain so on Friday, according to the IMD. Those conditions are expected to ease over the weekend, with temperatures swinging back to normal.
“Over the next 24 hours, some parts of Vidarbha will be under heat wave. There are severe heat wave warnings in isolated areas. But over the next 48 hours, those conditions are expected to be downgraded to isolated areas, mainly because of chances of rain over the region,” Kashyapi said.