This winter season has seen Pune’s temperature hover almost 5°C below that of Mahabaleshwar.

This has happened in spite of the fact that Pune has been warmer han normal and Mahabaleswar colder.

“If we compare the departure from normal, then Pune’s temperature has been above normal and the Mahabaleshwar temperature below normal this season,” said Central Indian Meteorological Department Director (Weather) Medha Khole.

“For instance, on January 4 and 5 the minimum temperature of both Pune and Mahabaleshwar was 13°C. However, it was 2°C above normal for Pune and 1°C below normal for Mahabaleshwar. The minimum temperatures will continue to hover around 12°C for the next couple of days,” she added.

The lowest ever January temperature recorded for Pune was 1.7°C on January 17, 1935; for Mahabaleshwar it was 5.6°C on January 21, 1968. “Although the period of minimum dip in temperature has gone by for the city, Pune can still expect a chill and fluctuation in the minimum temperature depending on several factors, including the winds,” Khole said.

According to temperature records, the minimum temperature over the last two weeks was 9°C for Pune. For Mahabaleshwar, however, it has not one below 12°C.

Elaborating on the variation, Khole said, “The graph of temperature variation shows that lowest temperature so far was 8.6°C on December 31, which was below normal by just 1°C. But on November 30 the minimum temperature rose up to 21.9°C, which is 10°C above normal. Normally, the minimum temperature for Mahabaleshwar is more than that for Pune whereas the average temperature of Mahabaleshwar is lower than that of Pune.”