Telangana braces for a long, difficult summer

Heatwaves are likely to sweep the State in the coming months, says TSDPS official; people advised to not venture outside between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Watermelon has arrived in abundance at the fruit market in Batasingaram in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The summer fruit is going to be in high demand in the coming months. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

It is going to be a long and difficult summer, with temperatures already hovering above 37° C across the State within the first week of March.

It is only going to get hotter and hotter till May-end, say meteorologists at the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), who predict a high of around 40-41° C as early as the end of this week.

“The temperatures are now between 35° and 38° C in most places during the day, and these are going to touch 42°-44° by the end of this month. We will experience heatwaves throughout Telangana in the coming days which were not there in the last two years,” said TSDPS weather forecast consultant Y.V. Rama Rao.

The only saving grace for the people of the twin cities is that the temperatures here are likely to be a degree or two lower as compared to most parts of the State including Khammam, Warangal, Nalgonda and other regions like the coal belt, thanks to the higher altitude of the Deccan plateau.

The extreme heat during the day could also lead to thunderstorms activity in most places including the capital region once the north-south trough activity picks up covering Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Rayalaseema, etc., This could happen throughout the summer season, he explained.

The rise in maximum temperatures will also impact the night temperatures. The city is likely to see a rise of two degrees from the current 20-23° C.

Mr. Rama Rao has advised people to be cautious and avoid venturing outside between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the day and keep drinking water. The highest maximum temperature recorded has been 46.3°C at Bayyaram (Mahabubabad) on March 23, 2016.

If the normal annual monsoon rainfall is 91.9 cm for Telangana, interestingly about 5.5 cm is expected during this hot season or about 6% of the annual rainfall. Normal rainfall for March is 1.2 cm and highest rainfall recorded has been 22.8 cm at Nellikudur (Mahabubabad) on March 24, 2008.

The cumulative rainfall from June 1, 2023 to March 1, 2024 has been 91.5 cm against normal 86.4 cm with a deviation of 6%. Within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits, the cumulative rainfall during the same period has been 80 cm as against a normal of about 76 cm with deviation 5%, he added.