Pune temperatures climb as anticyclone hovers over region; mercury to touch 37°C
The forecast is for the morning temperatures in Pune to keep rising until it becomes 18 °C on Sunday.
According to the IMD, the weather is following a normal pattern as March 1-May 31 is considered the pre-monsoon season or summer. (File photo) The maximum and minimum temperatures have been rising across Pune as the weather transitions from winter to summer or pre-monsoon. The daytime temperature was 36 degrees Celsius at the Shivajinagar weather station on Wednesday and is expected to rise marginally until it hits the year’s highest of 37 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
The minimum temperature has also started sliding upward and was around 17 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is expected to keep rising by degrees until the mercury touches 18 degrees Celsius at the Shivajinagar station on Sunday.
“There is an anticyclonic circulation around 2 to 4 km in the atmosphere. Under such conditions, we see a rise in temperatures. This is expected to continue for the next few days,” says S D Sanap, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Pune.
The anticyclone is present over parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat, causing air subsidence, a condition that contributes to rising temperatures. “When there is an anticyclonic circulation, we see that the wind is very calm. There is not much wind flowing at speed,” added Sanap.
The anticyclone is not a permanent condition and is likely to be gone in a few days. Sometimes, such anticyclonic circulation persists for a longer period, as happened in 2022 when it lasted 15-20 days. “That’s when we find that the temperature keeps on increasing,” said Sanap.
According to the IMD, the weather is currently following a normal pattern as March 1-May 31 is considered the pre-monsoon season or summer. “The end of February and the first few days of March show the gradual rise in temperature associated with transition,” he added.
The present maximum and minimum temperatures mark a departure from normal, but this is not very significant. The temperatures at this time of the year align with those recorded in Pune over the last decade. The IMD will issue a heatwave alert only if the departure from normal is greater than 4-5 degrees Celsius and temperatures are around 40 degrees Celsius.
“Right now, the readings are in the normal range,” said Sanap.
Even as the summer warmth sets in, the forecast is for clear skies for the next few days.
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