Indore rain and cloudy skies kept temperatures above normal on Sunday, while showers and strong winds disrupted preparations at garba venues and Durga pandals in Mhow. The Meteorological Centre has forecast thunderstorms and rain in parts of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, with night temperatures expected to begin falling after October 20.
Indore recorded a maximum temperature of 34.4°C, two degrees above normal, while the minimum rose to 21.6°C, four degrees above normal. The warmer night followed a day of partial cloud cover and scattered showers in parts of the city and nearby areas. The meteorological centre at Indore airport, however, recorded no rainfall during its observation period.
Relative humidity in the city stood at 63% at 8.30am, when the temperature was 26°C. The showers formed part of a wider spell of unsettled weather across Madhya Pradesh, where rain was reported in 11 districts over the preceding 24 hours. The affected districts included Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Alirajpur, Agar Malwa, Shajapur, Sheopur, Gwalior, Dindori, Barwani and Sehore.
Avantipur Barodia in Shajapur district received the highest rainfall, at nearly three-fourths of an inch, while Shujalpur recorded more than half an inch. Mhow experienced heavy rain accompanied by strong winds, affecting arrangements for scheduled local festivities. Water entered garba venues and pandals set up for Goddess Durga, tents were uprooted and Ravana effigies became wet.
The Meteorological Centre attributed the unsettled conditions to multiple weather systems. A low-pressure area formed over the southwest Arabian Sea on Sunday morning under the influence of an upper-air cyclonic circulation and was expected to become more marked over the following 24 hours. An upper-air cyclonic circulation also persisted over south Rajasthan and neighbouring areas, while a trough extended from southwest Rajasthan to the northeast Arabian Sea.
A western disturbance was affecting Himachal Pradesh and adjoining Punjab at the same time. The southwest monsoon had withdrawn from Madhya Pradesh on October 3, but these active systems triggered renewed rain and thunderstorms across the state during the past week.
The department forecast thunderstorms and rain in some districts on Monday. It did not expect alerts after Monday and indicated that night temperatures could start declining after October 20, bringing an end to the current spell of lingering warmth.
