Residents in Visakhapatnam snuggle up as mercury falls below 15°C

Visakhapatnam experiences drop in temperature below 20°C, with heavy rains expected, impacting homeless and elderly.

Mercury levels in Visakhapatnam city have dropped below 20° Celsius, prompting denizens to pull out their woollens from cupboards.

The night temperature in the city has already started dropping to around 15 degrees Celsius. Weather experts are predicting that the temperatures are likely to drop closer to 11 to 12 degrees Celsius.

This apart, the prevailing squally winds with clouds associated with moderate intermittent rainfall under the influence of the existing Low Pressure Area over the Bay of Bengal are causing denizens to feel the chill even more. The elderly and the homeless are finding it difficult to cope with the cold. Nearly 10 mm of rainfall was recorded at most of the places till Tuesday night.

“Upon request of Visakhapatnam Railway Protection Force, six homeless people (five men and one woman) were rescued from the Visakhapatnam railway station on Tuesday, and they were suffering from cold. They were mentally challenged and are from Srikakulam, Bihar, Karnataka, Kolkata and Araku in Alluri Seetharama Raju district,” said Pragada Vasu of an authorised Night Shelter in the city.

According to the State meteorological observatory data on Tuesday, the lowest minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 15.2 degrees Celsius at Akkireddypalem in Pendurthi under the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). The second lowest minimum temperature (16.5 degrees Celsius) was recorded at Narayanarajupeta in Bhimili. The temperature in Arilova and its surrounding areas was recorded at 18 degrees Celsius.

“It was like a hill station here on Tuesday,” said S. Priyanka, an engineering student from GITAM University.

The lowest temperature ever recorded at Visakhapatnam airport was 12.9 degrees Celsius on November 30, 1970 and the lowest temperature during winter was 10.5 degrees Celsius on January 6, 1962.