GENERAL

CLIMATE

Seasons.

[The section on 'Climate' is contributed by the Meteorological Department of the Government of India, Poona.].

The climate of this district, in common with the neighbouring districts of north-Deccan, is characterised by a hot summer and general dryness except during the south-west monsoon. The cold season from December to February is followed by the hot season from March to May. The period from June to September is the south-west monsoon season and October and November form the post-monsoon period.

Rainfall.

Records of rainfall in the district are available for eight stations for periods ranging from 68 to 101 years. The details of the rainfall at these stations and for the district as a whole are given in table Nos. 1 and 2. The normal annual rainfall in the district is 991.6 mm (39.04"). The rainfall generally increases from the north-west towards the south-east. Ner near the northwestern border of the district gets annually 896.3 mm. (35.29")

TABLE No. 1

 NORMALS AND EXTREMES OF RAINFALL, YEOTMAL DISTRICT.

TABLE No. 1-contd.

(a) Normal rainfall in mm. (b) Average number of rainy days (days. with rain of 2.5 mm. or more). *Based on all available data up to 1959. **Years given in brackets.

while Pandharkaoda near the south-east border gets 1122.2 mm (44.18"). The central region comprising Yeotmal tahsil gets 1099.5 mm. The rainfall during the south-west monsoon season constitutes about 86 per cent of the annual rainfall, July being the rainiest month. The variation in the rainfall from year to year is large. During the fifty year period, 1901-1950, the highest annual rainfall which was in 1917, amounted to 146 per cent of the normal while 1920 was the year with the lowest annual rainfall which was only 46 per cent of the normal. In the same fifty year period rainfall less than 80 per cent of the normal occurred in ten years, two of them being consecutive. Considering the rainfall at individual stations, two and three consecutive years of such low rainfall occurred once or twice at 6 out of the 8 stations. It will be seen from table No. 2 that the annual rainfall in the district was between 700 mm and 1,200 mm (27.56" and 47.24^'') in 39 years out of 50.

On an average there were 54 rainy days (i.e., days with rainfall of 2.5 mm-10 cents-or more) in a year in the district. This number varies from 50 days at Ner to 58 days at Pandharkaoda.

The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded at any station in the district was 337.6 mm (13.29") at Yeotmal on 1937 July 21.

TABLE No. 2

FREQUENCY OF ANNUAL RAINFALL IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT

(Data 1901-1950)

Temperature.

There are two meteorological observatories in the district, one each at Pusad and Yeotmal. The observatory at Pusad was started only recently. The records of Yeotmal are available for about a decade. The description which follows is mainly based on the records of Yeotmal supplemented by the records of the observatories in the neighbouring districts where similar meteorological conditions prevail. Temperatures rise rapidly after February till May which is the hottest month of the year. In May the mean daily maximum temperature at Yeotmal is 41.8° C (107.2° F) and the mean daily minimum is 28.3° C (82.9° F). The heat in summer season is intense and on some days in May and June the maximum temperature may rise up to about 46° C (114.8° F). The afternoon heat is sometimes relievel by thundershowers. With the arrival of the south-west monsoon by about the middle of June there is appreciable drop in day temperatures and the weather becomes cool. After the end of September when the south-west monsoon withdraws the day temperatures increase slightly. But the night temperatures decrease progressively after September. After October both day and night temperatures decrease rapidly. December is usually the coldest month with the mean daily maximum temperature at 28.4° C (83.1° F) and the mean daily minimum at 15.1° C (59.2° F). In association with western disturbances which move across north India cold waves affect the district and the minimum temperature may occasionally go down to about 8.0° C (46.4° F).

The highest maximum temperature recorded at Yeotmal was 46.1° C (115.0° F) on May 21, 1954. The lowest minimum was 7.2° C (45.0° F) on February 11, 1950.

Humidity

Except during the south-west monsoon season when the humidities are high, the air is generally dry. The summer months are the driest, the relative humidities in the afternoons being about 25 per cent.

Cloudiness.

During the south-west monsoon season, the skies are heavily clouded or overcast. In the rest of the year clear or lightly clouded skies prevail. In the summer season skies are often moderately clouded.

Winds.

Winds are generally light to moderate with some strengthening during the period from May to August. In the post-monsoon and cold seasons, the winds generally blow from the east or north-east. By March south-westerlies and westerlies start blowing, and in the rest of the summer and the south-west monsoon seasons winds are mostly from directions between south-west and north-west.

Special weather Phenomena.

In association with depressions which originate in the Bay of Bengal and move westwards during the south-west monsoon season, widespread heavy rain and gusty winds are experienced in the district, when they pass through the neighbourhood of the district. Less frequently, storms and depressions during the post-monsoon months of October and November, also affect the weather over the district. Thunderstorms occur in all the months, their frequency being highest in the monsoon months.

Tables Nos. 3, 4 and 5 give the temperature and humidity, mean wind speed and frequency of special weather phenomena, respectively, for Yeotmal district.

TABLE No. 3

 NORMALS OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT

*Hours I. S. T.

TABLE No. 4

MEAN WIND SPEED IN KILOMETRES PER HOUR IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT

TABLE No. 5

SPECIAL WEATHER PHENOMENA IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT

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