Overview
- IMD has logged five cold wave or severe cold wave days statewide since late November, the most since 2020.
- Pune reported single-digit minimums on December 9, with Shivajinagar at 8.9°C, Pashan at 8.4°C and Ahilyanagar the lowest at 7.8°C. Mumbai recorded its coldest morning of the season on December 9 as the Santacruz observatory touched about 16.5°C, with cooler nights expected to persist through December 12.
- Yellow alerts are in place for parts of Vidarbha, central and north Maharashtra and Marathwada, with advisories for elderly people, children and those with respiratory ailments.
- Meteorologists attribute the prolonged chill to dry northerly winds, clear skies, fewer western disturbances and La Niña conditions, while Pune’s overall AQI improved to 160 even as Shivajinagar stayed at a ‘poor’ 245.