The city recorded the highest temperature in 17 years when the mercury level soared to 44 degree Celsius at Visakhapatnam Airport on Saturday. The highest temperature of 45.4 degrees Celsius recorded earlier was on June 9, 1995. The temperature recorded at Waltair on Saturday was, however, much lower at 37.3 degrees Celsius.
“When the influence of north westerly winds is more, temperatures rise as they arrest the sea breeze from flowing on to the land. Visakhapatnam has been getting hot winds from westerly/north westerly direction. This season, the influence of winds was felt more from the second week of May,” Director of the Cyclone Warning Centre V.L. Prasada Rao said. “The South West monsoon is expected to touch the Kerala coast by June 5. It will take another one week to 10 days after that to cover entire Andhra Pradesh. The heat wave conditions will continue till then,” he said. The temperatures recorded (in degrees Celsius) at other coastal areas of AP on Saturday are: Kakinada and Tuni – 47 (9 degrees above normal), Machilipatnam, Bapatla and Renta Chintala – 46, Narsapur, Gannavaram, Ongole and Nandigama – 45, Visakhapatnam airport and Kavali – 44, Nellore – 42, Kalingapatnam – 40.