Visakhapatnam: Vizag has been its hottest over the past few days, with the maximum temperature recorded at 36OCelsius, with 65 per cent relative humidity, which has been creating a prematurely summer-like effect. The temperature in Vijayawada, Nellore, Kakinada and a few other cities and towns in AP has been around 38OCelsius. Met officials said that it would only get hotter in the next five or six days.
Officials at the Cyclone Warning Centre, Vizag said that the city’s temperature witnessed a rise of 3O as the day temperature jumped from 33O to 36O. Over 12 cities and towns in the state recorded temperatures more than 37OCelsius whereas the usual temperature in the state in February is 30 to 32OC. There have been several factors behind this sudden rise in temperature in the state, such as a clear sky, the lack of a northern wind, weak sea breezes and a strong south-west wind. The trend began on Wednesday and will probably continue for another week, Met officials say.
Professors from AU’s Oceanography Department attributed it to the El Nino effect. Residents, like K. Siva Kumar, a techie, said that if February was so warm, April and May may turn the city into a furnace. Vizagites have started buying air conditioners in anticipation of a price rise in days to come, what with summer having come earlier than usual, sources said.
