Visakhapatnam: Temperatures dropped by 10 degrees Celsius in many mandals of ASR district during the last four days. On Thursday, Chintapalli recorded 7.6 degrees Celsius, unusual for February.
The temperature began gradually falling from last week. On February 11, it was 17.2 degrees C, which dropped to 12 degrees C the following day, to 8 on February 13, to 7.5 on February 14 and to 7.6 on Thursday.
“It is a wonder this happened during the last spell of the winter. The fall in temperatures is normally witnessed in December,’’ said Dr Suresh Kumar, director of the regional agriculture research station, Chintapalli.
He told Deccan Chronicle that the November cyclone, Michaung, disturbed the weather pattern in Eastern Ghats, particularly in the ASR district.
He said the quick fluctuation of temperature has affected the flowering of the exotic plants that are being grown on the hills of Chintapalli and Lambasingi and that this scenario would remain so for only a few days.
Explaining the reasons for the sudden drop in the temperature, senior IMD scientist at Amaravati, S. Karunasagar, said a trough over the Eastern Ghats led to a drop in the temperature.
“The trough persisted over Chhattisgarh and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and it caused a drop in temperature in the ASR district. The temperature will again rise as the trough has moved to further west,’’ Karunasagar said.
Meanwhile, day temperatures are shooting up in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions from the first week of February. This would mean a severe summer is ahead for AP this year.
“Kurnool recorded 38.4 degrees C on February 13 while in other places the mercury was up by two degrees C above the normal day temperature,’’ the scientist said.
Not only Rayalaseema but also parts of the coastal districts in the state are experiencing temperatures slightly above the normal.
Long dry spells and a smaller number of western disturbances were the primary reasons for the rise in mercury levels, he said.
AP had experienced 21 days of heat waves in 2023. June reported 11 days of heat waves and April 6 days, May 3 days and July 1 day. The number of cold days has been declining in AP but the number of heatwave spells has been increasing, Karunasagar added.
