Extreme cold conditions in Telangana continued on Monday, December 20, as places in Adilabad and Kumaram Bheem Asifabad districts saw minimum temperatures fall to under 4 degree Celsius. Ginnedari village in Tiryani mandal of Kumaram Bheem district recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees in a 24-hour period ending on the morning of December 21. Sirpur in Kumuram Bheem district, and Bela in Adilabad district recorded a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees, while Arli village in Bheempoor mandal recorded 3.9 degrees. Many places in Kumaram Bheem, Adilabad and Mancherial districts recorded temperatures between 4.9 degrees and 6.4 degrees. Pembi mandal in Nirmal district also recorded 5.8 degrees, according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).
According to the data available with TSDPS, the minimum temperature was in single digits in 29 of the 33 districts during the last 24 hours up to 8.30 am on Tuesday, December 21, while it was between 10 and 11.8 degrees in the remaining districts. In Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, Rajendranagar recorded the lowest temperature at 8.4 degrees. Serlingampally recorded 8.8 while in Ramachandrapuram and Patancheru it was 9.1 degrees, as per TSDPS data. The minimum temperature on the outskirts of Hyderabad continues to be 4-5 degrees lower compared to the core city areas.
However, the IMD’s regional centre in Hyderabad said that the lowest minimum temperature of 7.4 degrees was recorded at Patancheru under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits as of 8.30 am on December 21. In the heart of Hyderabad city in Begumpet, a minimum temperature of 10.8 degrees was recorded, a departure of 3.8 degrees from normal. Hayathnagar recorded a minimum temperature of 9 degrees and Rajendranagar recorded 8 degrees, a departure of 3.5 degrees below normal level in both cases.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for several districts including Adilabad, Nirmal, Jagtial, Mancherial, Kumuram Bheem, Karimnagar, Vikarabad, Hyderabad, Kamareddy, Rangareddy, Sangareddy, Medak, Rajanna Sircilla as well as Hyderabad for December 21. For December 22 and 23, the orange alert continues for Adilabad, Nirmal, Kumuram Bheem and Mancherial. It said cold wave conditions likely to prevail at some pockets in Adilabad, Kumaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal,Jagityal, Rajanna Sirsilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu and Medak districts.
The IMD said dry weather is very likely to prevail over the state over the next five days. Minimum temperatures are likely to be below normal by 2-4 degrees in many pockets, it said. The IMD attributed the chill to cold winds blowing from the north and north-east.
The IMD had issued an orange alert for many parts of Telangana for December 19 and 20. According to TSDPS data on extreme weather events that occurred in December over the past ten years, Adilabad last recorded a lowest minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees on December 27, 2017, while Hyderabad has seen a minimum temperature of 9.5 degrees on December 31, 2018. Among all time extreme events, Adilabad recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees on June 5, 1995, and Hyderabad saw a low of 6.1 degrees on June 2, 1966, according to TSDPS.
With IANS inputs