April this year has emerged as the wettest April in Pune in the past 20 years with the city reporting 46.7 mm of rain last month, which is a record. After a hotter-than-usual March, summer rain made their presence felt in April, which went on intensifying for most of the month. The main cause of the summer rain was the incursion of moisture-laden wind from both Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This had happened due to cyclonic depression caused due to high temperature as well as wind discontinuity. Also Western Disturbances (WD — the moisture carrying wind from the Mediterranean Sea) helped in the formation of rain clouds over the city. This led to thunder and lightning, too, which prompted the Indian Meteorological Department to issue a Yellow warning for the city and its surrounding region. Met data show that the city received rain in double digits (mm) only twice before in April over the past 20 years — in 2005 (36.7 mm) and in 2011 (25.6 mm). Normally, Pune is supposed to receive nearly 6 mm of rain in April. This time, the April rain has helped in recharging the groundwater level as well as increase the dam levels of the district. With impending monsoon expected to be normal, this increased rain has helped the city preserve its water levels. Over the past two days, the rains have come back with a bang. In the past 24 hours, Khed received 10.5 mm of rain while other parts of the city and the district reported 7 to 0.5 mm of rain. Magarpatta recorded 2.5 mm of rain on Wednesday, which caused traffic jams on the Pune-Saswad Road. Summer rains are now going to bow out of the city in the next few days. Dr Anupam Kashyapi, Scientist F and Head, Weather Forecast, pointed to the formation of a cyclonic disturbance over the south Bay of Bengal post May 6. This is expected to concentrate into low pressure and develop as a cyclonic storm. This would result in concentration of moisture-laden winds there and thus summer rains would stop over the city and the state.
