Showers with cool breeze and cloudy weather brought respite for the denizens from the sizzling summer heat on Friday. It was a pleasant day all through because of a sudden change in the climate in the light of a depression in the Bay of Bengal which is expected to cause more rain for 48 hours from Sunday.
The thoroughfares had been wearing a deserted look in all the urban and rural areas during the day, barring the movement of election workers, for quite some time as the day temperatures kept shooting up. The city started experiencing the showers, albeit occasional, from Friday morning.
But, it was a contrasting picture in the rural areas as the cyclonic weather and untimely showers gave the mango and paddy farmers the jitters. “If the intensity of rains goes up with high-velocity gales, there will be a huge damage to mango crop,” says Vasireddy Seshagiri Rao, a farmer from Rallakunta area under Dwaraka Tirumala mandal. Although majority of the paddy produce has been shifted post-harvest, some still remain in the fields for the want of buyers. The farmers are worried lot if the rains damage the grain and those will fetch a low price due to high moisture level. Experts say that the sudden climatic changes may lead to drop in oxygen levels in the ponds, causing higher mortality to fish and prawn in the delta area.
ONGOLE Staff Reporter adds: The sudden drizzle came as a pleasant surprise for the residents of the city, who had a harrowing time with the soaring mercury.
Even though the sky was clear and the mercury touched 37 degree Celsius by Friday noon, the city received a steady drizzle in the later part of the day.
Temperature to go up!The rains under the influence of a low pressure area over interior Andhra Pradesh, provided a great relief to the people reeling under the impact of a dry spell for long.
The mercury came down by about 5 degree Celsius following the shower. The mercury is likely to go up to 40 degree Celsius in a couple of days, according to weather officials. The maximum temperature is likely to go up to 45 degree Celsius ahead of the ''Rohini karte'' later this month, they said.
