Day temp dips to season's lowest

PUNE: Puneites experienced a chill even at noon on Wednesday, as the city's maximum temperature dropped to 24.9 degrees celsius, the season's lowest. The minimum temperature, however, rose marginally to 11.4 degrees celsius from Tuesday's 10.6 degrees.
The dip in temperature, which has been a result of the weakening easterly wave, may, however, be disturbed with the advent of another easterly wave in a couple of days, officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Wednesday's maximum temperature was the lowest so far this winter, and was 3.9 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature, on the other hand, was 0.5 degrees above normal. So far this season, the lowest minimum temperature has been 10.2 degrees celsius, which was on December 7. The second lowest was 10.6 degrees on Tuesday.
The maximum temperature on Tuesday was 28.1 degrees celsius, and on Monday was 29.3 degrees celsius.
IMD officials attributed the drop in temperature to less cloud formation. "We have had clear skies for the last two to three days, with cool air coming from the north. The easterly wave earlier had caused significant moisture incursion, hence the temperatures had risen. However, in the next couple of days, we expect another easterly wave to come to this region, which will cause clouding, arresting the temperature drop," the official said.
He added that though the upcoming easterly wave may cause an increase in mercury, minimum temperature will hover around 11 to 12 degrees celsius.
Meanwhile, the weather department on Wednesday forecast partly cloudy skies in the next 24 to 48 hours. The forecast further said that night temperatures were markedly below normal in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha, appreciably below normal in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Konkan and Goa, and below normal in parts of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Chhattisgarh and in remaining parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha.