Mercury touches wintry levels

Hyderabad: Indicating the onset of winter, the night temperature dipped to 16.3ºC, the lowest recorded so far this season. The temperature is 3ºC below normal for this time of the year.

The temperature was in the range of 20-22ºC till three days ago, before falling from October 26. At Adilabad the mercury fell to 12ºC, making it the coldest place in the state.

Weather officials attributed the dip in temperatures to cold northeasterly winds. The winds from the northeast are a phenomenon of winter, and would push temperatures further down. December, January and February are considered to be the peak winter months. The onset of the winter would be officially announced in December.

An official from the weather service Skymet said that winter would properly set in, in November. Mr Mahesh Palawat of Skymet said, “Though there is a drop in temperature, we expect a slight rise in temperatures in the next few days as clouding will increase due to the development of a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.”

He said the Andhra coast may get some rain. “In true sense the day and night temperatures will start falling only from mid-November.” he said.

It was also mentioned that the state would experience a regular winter, and the temperature may be a little above normal.