Akola sizzles at 47.1°C, hottest in baked Maharashtra

Pune can expect some rain today
It is baking hot in several parts of Maharashtra with the mercury crossing the 40 degrees celsius-mark in about a dozen cities and towns on Wednesday . Inching closer to 30 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature, too, failed to provide any respite from the heat at night.
At 47.1 degrees Celisus, Akola was hottest in the state, followed by Jalgaon (46 degrees Celsius) and Malegaon (45.2 degrees Celsius).Amravati, too, was not much behind at 44.6 degrees Celsius. Even as Nagpur and Chandrapur sizzled at 44 degrees Celsius each, Aurangabad recorded its highest May tem perature at 43.8 degrees Celsius for the second consecutive year.
Pune was at 37.1 degrees Celsius, but it felt like 40 degrees Celsius because of high humidity levels. Worse still, the minimum temperature stayed as high as 26.3 degrees Celsius. One can draw some comfort from the Met department's forecast of rain and thundershowers from Thursday. Though Pune's maximum temperature will stay at 39 degrees Celsius on Thursday, it will hover somewhere between 36 and 37 degrees Celsius till May 24, the Met forecast said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in Solapur will remain around 42 and 27 degrees Celsius, respectively, for the next six days, it added.
With both the temperatures consistently staying two notches above normal over the last six days (May 12 and May 18), there will be no relief from the heat in the coming days too, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated in its forecast.
"Heat wave conditions are prevailing over Vidarbha with temperature staying as high as 46 degrees. In Akola, Nagpur and Wardha, the mercury is set to touch 45-46 degrees Celsius. In parts of Central Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada, heat wave conditions will prevail for the next two to three days," said Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet Weather.
As per the Met department, Aurangabad's maximum and minimum temperatures will stay at 42 and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively. "Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to remain markedly above normal over the entire northwest, west and central India during May 17 to 26. They are likely to reduce to their normal below normal values only from May 27 to June 1period," the forecast stated.
Between May 19 and 22, the forecast said, severe heat wave conditions are expected to prevail over isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha.
The forecast further stated that Akola will continue to reel under scorching heat for the next six days with the maximum and minimum temperatures staying at 46 and 31 degrees Celsius, respectively. "The wind pattern in Central Maharashtra is the reason behind the heat wave conditions, which will prevail till May 22," said IMD scientist PCS Rao. "Also, heat wave conditions will prevail in West Rajasthan, Gujarat and some parts of Central Maharashtra," he added.
According to IITM, heat wave conditions are likely to continue over Rajasthan, parts of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and at isolated places over Gujarat, Central Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh between May 17 and 21. Whereas the intensity of these heat waves is likely to reduce thereafter and gradually abate between May 27 and June 5.
Nagpur has also been one of the hottest cities in the state with maximum temperature in the next six days going as high as 46 degrees Celsius and minimum temperature staying near 30 degrees Celsius.