People buying woolens in city on Sunday. With falling temperatures, blanket shops are witnessing rush of customers.— Photo: Anand Dharmana
Hyderabad: It is that time of the year when umbrellas are kept back inside and sweaters and blankets are pulled out and dusted. Night is the time now to chill in Hyderabad, literally, with the minimum temperatures plummeting below 20 degree Celsius.
Though it is not yet winter officially, the last one week has seen the minimum temperatures in the city dropping below normal most of the times, indicating the gradual onset of winter.
According to the India Meteorological Department, Hyderabad, temperatures had dropped to 17.5 degree Celsius in the city on October 27, when the southwest monsoon made its exit from the State.
Usually, minimum temperatures witness a dip from the first week of November. This year, however, the rains left an impact and October was cooler in the city than last year with the lowest temperature in October last year being 21.3 degree Celsius compared to this year’s 17.5 degree Celsius.
According to officials, the weather was likely to remain partly cloudy with haze, and the winter, to pick up after mid-November. If the weather in November over the last one decade is any indication, the minimum temperature could fall below 15 degree Celsius.
Winter could peak during December and January, wherein temperatures drop by three to four degree Celsius below normal. Last year, the onset of winter was delayed till December with temperatures hovering around 18 degree Celsius and 20 degree Celsius.
Apart from meteorological factors like change in wind pattern, other issues like rapid urbanisation, emission of gases, increase in vehicle pollution and uneven rainfall are believed to have contributed to the rise in minimum temperatures in the city last year.
However, this winter is very likely to be cooler than usual as per the predictions of the IMD. Recently, based on the weather pattern, the IMD has said that there was a possibility of a relatively higher frequency of cold waves this winter across the country.
Hyderabad receives northerly winds from the Himachal region every year, resulting in a sharp drop in temperature levels in the night. Unless there is a change in the wind pattern like last year, minimum temperatures will not be above normal, officials said.
Meanwhile, according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), Serilingampally recorded the lowest temperature at 17 degree Celsius in the last 24 hours, followed by Chandanagar (17.6 degree Celsius), Patancheru (17.9 degree Celsius) and Rajendranagar (18 degree Celsius).
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