Citizens in Hyderabad woke up shivering on Tuesday as the temperature across all parts of the city saw a steep dip, owing to Cylone Phethai that made landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD),areas like Medak in Telangana witnessed the lowest temperature in the state, at 13 degree Celsius on Monday.
In Hyderabad, the minimum temperature hovered around 18 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature was 27 degree Celsius, which is 2 degrees below the usual temperature at this time of the year. Areas at the outskirts of the city like Hakimpet, even saw the temperature dip to 16 degree Celsius. The sky across the city remained cloudy through the day with no sign of sunlight.
According to media reports, in the span of one week, the maximum temperature in the city fell from 30.6 degrees Celsius on December 10, dropped to 20.8 degrees on December 17.
“Another system is developing as a cyclonic circulation in southwest Bay of Bengal off Tamil Nadu around December 20. Rains are likely over Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Karnataka between December 20 and 23,” Skymet Weather reported.
The IMD also said that heavy rain was likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Khammam Bhadadri Kothagudem, Jaya Shankar Bhupalapalle and Mahbubnagar in Telangana and added that the weather would continue to remain cold until the storm cleared.
Cyclonic storm ‘Phethai crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast in East Godavari district on Monday, causing widespread rains, uprooting trees, paralyzing transport and damaging crops.
‘Phethai' made the landfall near Katrinekonda in East Godavari district with a wind speed of 80 kmph and re-emerged into the Bay of Bengal before crossing the coast between Kakinada and Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in the same district.
Authorities heaved a sigh of relief as no loss of life was reported till Monday evening. The coastal region was also spared of major losses, barring damages to standing crops over hundreds of acres. Turbulent weather conditions forced the authorities to cancel 14 flights to the port city of Visakhapatnam and divert many others to Hyderabad.
IANS inputs