Residents of Pune can expect to reach for their sweaters as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts a significant drop in minimum temperatures across the district in the coming days. The change is attributed to clearer skies and the arrival of dry northerly and north-easterly winds, setting in a typical early-December weather pattern.
Cooler Mornings Grip Pune District
A senior IMD official confirmed that locations across Pune district should prepare for cooler mornings. The mercury has already begun its descent, with several key areas recording a notable dip on Sunday. Chinchwad recorded a minimum of 17.3°C, while Koregaon Park saw 16.6°C. The cooler readings were more pronounced in Shivajinagar (12.9°C) and Pashan (12.5°C), with Lohegaon also entering the two-digit range. Officials indicated that these locations may witness a further fall in nighttime temperatures in the upcoming week.
National Weather Overview: Cold Waves and Dense Fog
While Pune experiences a crisp winter shift, the IMD has issued alerts for more severe conditions in other parts of the country. The forecast warns that cold wave conditions are very likely at a few places over Chhattisgarh on December 8 and 9, and in isolated pockets over Madhya Pradesh, north Vidarbha, and Odisha.
Furthermore, the department has flagged dense fog during early morning hours in several regions:
- Isolated pockets of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura from December 8 to 12.
- West Madhya Pradesh on December 8.
- Himachal Pradesh from December 8 to 10.
- Odisha on December 8 and 9.
This fog is expected to reduce visibility to a few hundred metres in some northern and northeastern states, potentially disrupting road and air travel.
Weather Systems and Regional Impact
The IMD attributes the current national weather scenario to multiple active systems. These include an upper-air cyclonic circulation over east Bangladesh and a trough in easterlies over the southeast Bay of Bengal. Under their influence, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are very likely to experience light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds (30–40 kmph) from December 7 to 10.
Similarly, light to moderate rain is predicted for Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on December 7 and 8. However, the Met department clarified that these systems are not likely to affect Maharashtra directly, though a marginal fall in night temperatures is expected statewide.
For Pune, while daytime temperatures are predicted to remain near normal, creating a contrast between warm afternoons and chilly mornings, experts suggest the winter may intensify further after December 15. This is when colder northwesterly winds typically begin to dominate the region's weather pattern.
