Pune woke up to a cloudy sky and one of the warmest mornings of the season on Monday, with the minimum temperature at the Shivajinagar station touching 17.4 degrees Celsius, up from 13.9 degrees Celsius the previous day.
According to meteorologists, cloud cover prevents solar radiation from escaping, leading to warmer nights and early mornings. In areas such as Koregaon Park, Magarpatta and Chinchwad, the minimum temperature hovered around 20 degrees Celsius on January 27.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast similar conditions over the next few days, predicting partly cloudy skies along with the possibility of isolated light rain, lightning and thunder. The maximum temperature across Pune on Tuesday remained relatively stable at 31 degrees Celsius. By February 1, the minimum temperature is expected to rise to around 18 degrees Celsius, among the warmest this season, while the maximum could touch 33 degrees Celsius.
A yellow alert, indicating the possibility of light rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning, has been issued for Pune, Dhule, Satara, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad.
“The changes in weather are due to a Western Disturbance crossing the Himalayan region. The wind confluence, which is the interaction between opposite winds blowing from the cold north and the warm south, both carrying moisture, over central India and north and central Maharashtra is causing clouds and increasing the likelihood of thunder and lightning in isolated areas in Pune and a few other districts,” said Anupam Kashyapi, former head of the weather forecasting department at the IMD. The Western Disturbance has brought snow, fog and bitter cold to several parts of north India, including Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
Kashyapi said the Western Disturbance is expected to move eastwards by January 28, leading to clearer weather over north India, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra. “People should avoid standing under a tree or similar structures during lightning and rain,” he added.
The night temperature in Pune has been rising gradually over the past few weeks, almost signalling the end of winter.
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