A woman walking under the hot sun on a deserted road in Gachibowli, Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: File photo
Meteorologists expect this year’s summer to be ‘warmer’ than the previous couple of years with the temperatures already high by two to three degree during both night and day. With the El Nino weather phenomenon likely to be active till the end of summer, the hot days could set in first week of March itself when temperatures could touch 40 degree Celsius.
“We have had a warm winter and temperatures are already high by two to three degree Celsius – reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius during the day (maximum) and 19-20 during the nights (minimum). Temperatures are only likely to rise further in the coming days and peak in April and May,” explained Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS) weather forecast consultant Y.V. Rama Rao.
While the summer should officially set in March, citizens in the twin cities and across Telangana have already been experiencing dry and hot weather with the mean day temperatures higher by 3.7 degree Celsius. The night temperatures too have been higher by almost four degrees of up to 19-20 degree Celsius. El Nino weather phenomenon which affects the climate in different parts of the globe, including India, due to warming up of the Pacific Ocean, continues to have an impact.
There is not going to be a relief in the coming days with the southerly and easterly flows continue to dominate the weatherscape. “Temperatures have dropped in parts of north India but northerly winds are not even coming towards central India like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, forget about Telangana, to expect a few degrees drop,” said the meteorologist.
Mr. Rao said there could be summer showers later and will be more than what has been experienced in the last two months, but it cannot be predicted in advance. Within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, the average minimum or night temperature as on today is 21.9 degree Celsius as against normal of 18.5 degree Celsius
Normal rainfall in February is 4.9 mm and highest rainfall recorded has been 10.8 cm at Naykal (Sangareddy) on February 13, 2008, as per TSDPS data. Average minimum temperature is 16.9° Celsius and lowest minimum temperature 4.8° Celsius recorded at Sirpur (U) (Kumuram Bheem – Asifabad) on February 10, 2019. Total rainfall in Telangana since June 2023 is about 92 cm against the normal rainfall of about 86 cm with a positive deviation of 6%. Within the GHMC limits, it has been 80 cm as against 76 cm, again 6% more.
