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A yellow alert has been issued for Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts, among others, by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as it forecasts thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds over the next four to five days. In Pune, it is very likely that the gusty winds will reach a speed of 40-50 kmph in isolated places on October 24 and 30-40 kmph the next day.
The districts of Pune, Raigad, Satara, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Ahilyanagar, Thane and Palghar Raigad, among others, might experience heavy rain – a dampener for people who plan to continue their Diwali celebrations over the weekend.
“There can be some localized flooding as happened on October 23, with a short period of rain. The wind might become gusty during the storm. We can expect thunderstorms mainly in the afternoon hours with the rain,” said Dr Sudeep Kumar, scientist with IMD Pune. On October 23, all of Pune experienced rain, with Lohegaon recording the highest at 40.4mm and Pashan the lowest at 17.8 mm.
Dr Kumar added that the cause of the present situation are two low-pressure systems that have developed–one is in the Arabian Sea that is moving towards the coast with a slightly north, north eastward movement, and the other in the Bay of Bengal that is moving nearly north westward, is likely to intensify into a cyclone in two to three days.
“Due to these two systems, we have a moisture incursion happening to the Maharashtra coast and the interior of Maharashtra. There is a good amount of moisture coming into Pune as well as Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon. At the same time, the daytime temperature in these places is above 30 degrees Celsius. These two are among the major factors causing local instability, which is why you might have thunderstorms in one area and not another,” says Anupam Kashyapi, former head, weather forecasting at IMD.
The IMD has pointed out the possibility of weak trees or structures falling due to gusty winds, localised short-term disruption of power, damage to crops due to unseasonal rainfall and minor damage to kuccha houses and huts.
The advice includes that people should not work in open areas and fields during thunderstorms, or take shelter under tall trees and structures during this time. They should “immediately get out of waterbodies” and “keep away from all objects that conduct electricity”.
