The maximum temperature in the city plunged to 23.8 degrees C Commuters brave unseasonal rain in Lucknow on Friday.
Lucknow: The overcast sky, incessant drizzle and cool winds throughout Friday caused the maximum temperature in the city to plunge to 23.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest daytime temperature recorded in Oct in 11 years, while also equalling a record set four decades ago. Because the drizzle was akin to fine sprinkler spray, however, total rainfall from morning till evening was just 11 mm. As a result, the minimum temperature settled at 21.9 degrees Celsius, 5.7 notches above normal, Met officials said.
“Such prolonged spells of rain during a day are usually witnessed in the monsoon months (July to September), whereas October generally marks the transition towards winter in this part of the country,” said senior scientist Mohammad Danish at the Regional Met Centre. What took people by surprise was that at a time of the year when winter usually starts knocking on the door, the weather changed as if the monsoon had made a comeback. The sky remained overcast throughout the day, with continuous light drizzle, typical of what poets describe in the local dialect as ‘sawan ki fuhar’. The overcast sky kept the day cool but also prevented ground heat from escaping into the atmosphere at night. The change in weather conditions was caused by a low-pressure area that developed over Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh as a remnant of Cyclone Arnab, which formed in the Bay of Bengal and weakened after making landfall in Andhra Pradesh. A trough, or a zone of cyclonic circulation, had also formed from Uttar Pradesh to MP.
The maximum temperature was 23.8 degrees Celsius, 7.6 degrees below normal, the lowest since 23.3 degrees Celsius was recorded on Oct 28, 2015. It was also the fifth-lowest October maximum temperature since 1969, from when records are available with the India Meteorological Department . Records also show that 23.8 degrees Celsius was earlier recorded on Oct 9, 1985.
The real impact was felt in the daytime temperature.