Minimum temp may drop from Feb 21, no rain in sight

Pune: A brief spell of lower night temperatures were likely in Pune soon, an IMD forecast said on Saturday.The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) forecast released on Saturday said minimum temperatures were projected to drop to 10-11°C in areas like NDA and Shivajinagar, respectively.Head of the weather forecasting division at IMD, Pune, Anupam Kashyapi said, “An active western disturbance (WD) has started to affect northwest India. However, no rain is expected in Maharashtra, including Pune. Partly cloudy conditions are likely to prevail between Feb 18 and 21, with a decrease in minimum temperatures expected from Feb 21 onwards.” Currently, temperatures in the day and night in Pune were above normal by 1 to 5°C.On Saturday, Shivajinagar recorded a minimum temperature of 14.6°C, while Lohegaon saw 17.8°C — a deviation of 2 to 4°C above normal.Independent weather forecaster Abhijit Modak said, “The WD is impacting north India. It is likely to bring an end to the prevailing heat and warm weather in Konkan and across Maharashtra from Feb 20. Typically, we witness rising temperatures in Maharashtra from the third week of Feb. However, due to the effect of the WD, winter chill may persist a bit longer. The lowest minimum temperatures of the month are expected between Feb 22 and 24h, if conditions unfold as expected.” tnn