Hyderabad: The weather remaining surprisingly moderate throughout the day on Monday, not too warm in most places and the rain largely holding off. In Hyderabad, the polling booths witnessed substantial crowds during the early hours and in the late afternoon. A voter even showed up with an umbrella, even though there was no rain, paying heed to the weather officials.
Shops in the vicinity of polling stations offered cool drinks to those waiting to cast their ballots or cooling off after performing their civic duty.
Across the state, temperatures were lower compared to the previous year when the mercury crossed 42°C in all districts and reaching 45°C in three places. On Monday, Jagtial was the warmest at 41.1°C, closely followed by Nizamabad at 40.8°C. Other districts registered temperatures above 40°C. Hanamkonda had a maximum temperature of 38.3°C.
Storms brewed in the western suburbs of Hyderabad, covering areas from Patancheru to the Suchitra belt on Sunday night. The Meteorological Department forecast moderate-intense rains with thunderstorms in the early hours, which might have prompted voters to head to the polls earlier in the day.
The skies remained largely clear, with only isolated showers reported in a few districts. The forecast of stormy conditions did not come to be.
