Rain, thunder and lightning over Pune on January 8: IMD

Pune recorded 19.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, which was close to 10 degrees above normal for this time of the year. The Extended Range Predictions indicate that this week will not see much of winter chill.

Many places in Pune district reported light rain on Monday night with Baramati recording 10.6 mm rainfall till 8.30 am on Tuesday. Kolhapur and neighbouring areas, too, reported light to moderate rain on Tuesday.

Since most crops in Pune are either in their flowering or pod-formation stages and require sunlight and warmth, the current weather will not be conducive, agriculture experts said.  Strong weather systems are prevailing over North India, which will continue to have influence over Maharashtra during the rest of the week.

There is a trough running between east-central Arabian Sea and Madhya Maharashtra. There is also an induced cyclonic circulation lying over west Rajasthan. The fast approaching western disturbance over extreme north India and its confluence with the strong southeasterly winds from the Arabian Sea will cause precipitation over Northwest India and some parts of Maharashtra in the next two to three days, Met officials said.

“Due to the wind discontinuity over the region, there will be cloud formation and overcast sky conditions over the state. Due to this, the chill factor will be limited in the night and morning hours,” said an IMD official.

While light rainfall is forecast on Wednesday, thunderstorms are expected on January 7 and 8 over Madhya Maharashtra, including parts of Pune and Marathwada. The IMD has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Satara, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Solapur districts for Wednesday. A similar alert for January 8 has been issued for Pune, Akola, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Wardha, Nagpur and Amravati districts.