August month is often romanticised in various texts, stories and even in movies while vividly describing a typical Indian monsoon. Perhaps, the people behind the work failed to predict that the day temperatures in August, at some point, would even make peak summer days look tolerable.
Maximum high As the citizens fret and sweat in the sweltering heat, it is not for no reason as the city experienced a 10-year maximum high temperature recorded in the month of August. On Thursday, August 20, the city sizzled at 36.2 C. The remaining days of the month have recorded an average of about 33 to 34 C even though this has to be around 31 C as per the Met Department.
The Met officials say that there are multiple reasons for the present situation. “There was lack of sufficient rains this season as we had a dry spell,” said K. Sitaram, Director, Meteorological Department, Hyderabad. “There was very less cloud presence too. The urban heat effect is anyway there which may contribute to the heat conditions.”
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Even in the first week of August 2009, a maximum temperature of 36.2 C was recorded. Apart from that no other days in the month of August in the last ten years crossed a maximum day temperature of 34.5 C.
Meanwhile, citizens are having a tough time putting up with the extreme conditions. At the Airtel Marathon event held on Sunday, runners had a very tough time even though the event began before dawn.
“A runner could not take the heat and fainted. He was rushed to a nearby hospital,” informed one of the volunteers.
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Many of the participants from outside Hyderabad were also surprised with the prevailing weather conditions. Does anyone remember that the last time the capital witnessed flooding due to heavy rainfall in the year 2000 was, well in August!