GENERAL

CLIMATE

[The write-up on climate is contributed by the Meteorological Department, Government of India, Poona.]

The climate of this district is on the whole agreeable and is characterised by general dryness in the major part of the year. The cold season is from December to about the middle of February. The hot season which follows, lasts till the end of May. June to September is the south-west monsoon season and the two months, October and November, constitute the post-monsoon or retreating monsoon season.

Rainfall.

Records of rainfall in the district are available for nine stations for periods ranging from 15 to 83 years. The details of the rainfall at these stations and for the district as a whole are given in tables 2 and 3. The average annual rainfall in the district is 692.4 mm (27.26"). The rainfall in the western portion of the district, near the western ghats is considerably higher than in the rest of the district. The rainfall generally decreases from the western ghats towards the eastern portions of the district; Madhavpur (Vadgaon) near the western border of the district getting 1,225.8 mm (48.26") and Jath in the eastern part getting only 528.2 mm (20.80"). Some rainfall in the form of thunder-showers occurs in May but the main rainy season is from June to September. The rainfall in the south-west monsoon months is about 68% of the annual total. July is the month with the heaviest rainfall. About 19% of the annual rainfall is received in the post-monsoon season. The rainfall at individual stations shows considerable variations from year to year. It will be seen from table 2 that at some stations the rainfall has been as much as double the normal in some years while in some other years rainfall has been about half the normal. In the fifty year period 1901—1950 the annual rainfall in the district was the highest in 1932 when it amounted to 140% of the normal. Both 1918 and 1923 were years with the lowest rainfall which was only 57% of the normal. In the same fifty year period, the annual rainfall was less than 80% of the nomal in 14 years. There were three occasions when consecutive two years had rainfall less than 8/% of the normal. Consecutive four years of such low rainfall occurred during the period 1923—1926. It will be seen from table 3 that in 33 years out of fifty the rainfall in the district was between 500 and 800 mm (19.69" and 31.50").

TABLE No. 2

NORMALS AND EXTREMES OF RAINFALL

TABLE No. 2-contd.

TABLE No. 2-contd.

TABLE No. 2-contd.

(a) Normal rainfall in mm.; (b) Average number of rainy days (days with rain of 2.5 mm or more). * Years given in brackets, † Based on all available data upto 1958.

TABLE No. 3

FREQUENCY OF ANNUAL RAINFALL IN THE DISTRICT

(Data; 1901—1950)

On an average there are 49 rainy days (i.e., days with rainfall of 2.5 mm-10 cents or more) in the district. As in the case of the amount of rainfall, this number varies from 80 at Vadgaon near the western ghats to 36 at Jath in the eastern part of the district.

The highest rainfall in 24 hours recorded at any station in the district was 261.6 mm (10.30") on July 26, 1898 at Shirala.

Temperature.

The only meteorological observatory in the district is at Miraj. The records of this observatory may be taken as representative of the climatic conditions over the district in general. The cold weather starts by about the end of November and lasts till about the middle of February, December being the coldest month. In this month the mean daily maximum temperature is 29.5°C (85.1°F) while the mean daily minimum is 14.3°C (57.7°F). The minimum temperature may sometimes go below 7°C (44.6°F). The period from about the middle of February to the end of May is one of continuous increase of temperature. In May, the hottest month, the mean daily maximum temperature is 37.5°C (99.5°F) and the mean daily minimum 22.7°C (72.9°F). The heat is intense and the maximum temperature may sometimes go up to 42.0°C (107.6°F). Afternoon thundershowers bring welcome relief from the heat on some days. The onset of the south-west monsoon by the first or second week of June brings down the day temperatures appreciably, but night temperatures continue to be nearly the same as in summer. During the south-west monsoon months the weather is cool and pleasant. Sometimes the day temperatures are even less than in the cold season. After the withdrawal of the south-west monsoon by the end of September, day temperatures increase slightly. After about mid-November both day and night temperatures begin to drop. Except during the south-west monsoon season the daily range of temperature is large and is of the order of 11° to 18°C at Miraj.

The highest maximum temperature recorded at Miraj was 42.2 °C (108.0°F) on 1942 April, 2; 1940 May, 15 and 1934 June, 1. The lowest minimum temperature recorded at this station was 5.0°C (41.0°F) on 1945 January, 7,

Humidity.

In the south-west monsoon months the air is highly humid. In the post-monsoon, summer and cold seasons the air is dry particularly in the afternoons.

Cloudiness.

Skies are generally clear or lightly clouded during the months November to March. Cloudiness begins to increase progressively from April and afternoons are more clouded than the mornings. During the monsoon months the skies are heavily clouded to overcast.

Winds.

Winds are light to moderate except in the south-west monsoon season when they are stronger. In the south-west monsoon season, winds are from directions between south-west and north-west, the westerlies being more frequent. In the post-monsoon season they are predominantly from the north-east or east. Easterlies and south-easterlies are common in the cold season. By February westerlies and north-westerlies appear and these predominate in the summer.

Special Weather Phenomena.

Thunderstorms occur in the hot season and in the post- monsoon season. In the beginning and end of the south-west monsoon season rainfall is often associated with thunder.

Tables 4, 5 and 6 give the temperature and humidity, mean wind speed and frequency of special weather phenomena respectively for Miraj.

TABLE No. 4

NORMALS OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY (MIRAJ)

TABLE No. 4—contd.

NORMALS OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY (MIRAJ)—contd.

*Hours I. S. T

TABLE No. 5

MEAN WIND SPEED IN KILOMETRES PER HOUR (MIRAJ)

TABLE No. 6

SPECIAL WEATHER PHENOMENA (MIRAJ)

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