Lack of cloud cover pushes temperatures above 39°C in Andhra Pradesh, says CWC official

Ongole and Kavali were the hottest, at 39.3°C each, followed by Nellore at 39°C and Bapatla at 38.9°C, according to the daily bulletin of the India Meteorological Department’s Meteorological Centre, Amaravati, on Tuesday. Tuni recorded 38.1°C, Tirupati 38°C, the Visakhapatnam airport station 37.4°C, Kakinada 37.1°C and the Visakhapatnam city station 36°C.

Bapatla recorded the widest departure from normal at 5.1°C, followed by Kavali at 4.8°C, Visakhapatnam at 4.6°C and Kakinada at 4.4°C. Tuni, Ongole and the Visakhapatnam airport station were each 4.3°C above normal.

“There is no cloud cover. That is why we are feeling the direct sunlight, resulting in a rise in the temperature,” Mr. Murthy said.

Low-level stratus clouds normally cover the sky during the monsoon, he said, and their absence on Tuesday left the ground exposed to direct insolation. Maximum temperatures in the range of 37°C and 39°C on September 1 were not unusual, he added. The State was almost entirely dry.

Isolated light to moderate rain is likely across all districts over the next seven days, the Meteorological Centre said in its district-level forecast. Strong surface winds reaching 40 kmph to 50 kmph are likely at isolated places in Visakhapatnam and several other districts over the next five days.

The well-marked low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal lay too far north to influence weather over Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Murthy said.

He was hopeful of better rainfall over the rest of September. “Should a low-pressure area form over the west-central Bay of Bengal and move across the State, then we will get more rainfall,” he said.

Studies of past seasons showed that in El Niño years, systems forming over the southeast Bay of Bengal close to the Andaman Sea had tended to intensify as they travelled towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, Mr. Murthy said.