The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted light to moderate rain and thundershowers at isolated places across Telangana for the next five days.
This even as Hyderabad received mild showers on Tuesday morning and again in the evening, as the temperature cooled further. Shaikpet received the most rainfall of 3 mm, followed by Qutbullahpur at 2.8 mm, according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).
Meteorologists have attributed the rainfall to a trough with a cyclonic circulation over northern Telangana.
The private weather agency, Skymetweather also said that rains are expected to continue till January 3 and attributed it to a confluence zone -- where winds from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal merged, resulting in the formation of clouds and subsequent rainfall.
There has been a clear delay in the setting of winter this year, as on December 29 last year, Hyderabad witnessed a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees, compared to around 18 degrees this year on the same date.
An official of the IMD had earlier told TNM that the northeasterly winds should have ideally arrived in the first week of December. However, they got delayed due to prevailing winds from the Bay of Bengal. This has delayed winter by a few weeks in the state, the official informed.
Officials now expect the winter to set in the coming days of January.
The temperature has begun falling in the state and the city over the last few days. The TSDPS said that on Tuesday, Gudihatnoor in Adilabad was the coldest place in the state and witnessed a minimum temperature of 16.2 degree Celsius. Many parts of the district continue to witness minimum temperatures below 17 degrees.
Earlier this week, Adilabad touched a low of 5 degree Celsius and cold wave-like conditions prevailed at isolated places in the district.