PUNE: Thundershowers and lightning have been forecast for isolated locations in Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha till May 20, but Pune may only see partly cloudy skies from time to time.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast mainly clear skies that could become partly cloudy towards afternoon or evening from May 19 in Pune which may bring some relief to the city from the high day temperatures.
On Monday, day temperatures in Shivajinagar and Lohegaon once again surged to 40.8°C and 40.5°C. These temperatures were above normal by four degrees and 3.5 degrees, respectively.
With partly cloudy skies expected from time to time from Thursday, day temperatures could come down to 37-38 °C in the city, Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather, IMD, Pune said.
Very light to light rain in isolated locations are expected, especially in parts of South Maharashtra, including South Konkan, South Madhya Maharashtra, as well as parts Vidarbha and Marathwada.
"South Maharashtra is likely to be under the influence of west northwesterly winds soon, which would be causing partial moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea over these parts, resulting in isolated thundershowers and lightning during the next few days," he said.
A wind discontinuity over south Madhya Maharashtra to west central Vidarbha will also cause moisture incursion in these parts from the Bay of Bengal. "These conditions could trigger isolated very light to light rain/thundershowers/lightning over parts of Vidarbha and Marathwada," Kashyapi added.
On when pre-monsoon rain could be expected over Pune, Kashyapi said, "The latest extended range forecast indicated that chances of light rains in Pune could strengthen around May 26," he said.
