Lack of cloud cover pushes temperatures above 39C in Andhra Pradesh, says CWC official

Visakhapatnam records 37.4C on Tuesday. The level of the Mudasarlova Dam has dropped due to prolonged drought in the city. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK

Clear skies and absence of clouds pushed the maximum temperatures above 39°C in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, though the conditions did not constitute a heat wave, said PLN Murthy, head of the Cyclone Warning Center (CWC), Visakhapatnam.

Ongole and Kavali were the hottest at 39.3°C each, followed by Nellore at 39°C and Bapatla at 38.9°C, according to the daily bulletin of the India Meteorological Centre, Amaravati, on Tuesday. Tuni recorded 38.1°C, Tirupati 38°C, Visakhapatnam airport station 37.4°C, Kakinada 37.1°C and Visakhapatnam city station 36°C.

Bapatla recorded the highest deviation from normal at 5.1°C, followed by Kavali at 4.8°C, Visakhapatnam at 4.6°C and Kakinada at 4.4°C. Tuni, Ongole and Visakhapatnam airport station were 4.3°C each above normal.

“There is no cloud cover. That’s why we feel direct sunlight, resulting in an increase in temperature,” Mr Murthy said.

He said a low layer of stratus clouds normally covers the sky during the monsoon and their absence on Tuesday exposed the country to direct sunlight. Maximum temperatures between 37°C and 39°C on September 1 were not unusual, he added. The state was almost completely dry.

Isolated light to moderate rain is likely in all districts in the next seven days, the weather center said in its district-level forecast. Strong surface winds reaching a speed of 40 to 50 kmph are likely at isolated places in Visakhapatnam and a few other districts in the next five days.

A well-marked low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal lay too far north to affect the weather over Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Murthy said.

He was hoping for better rainfall for the rest of September. “If a low pressure area forms over the west-central Bay of Bengal and moves across the state, then we will have more rainfall,” he said.

Mr. Murthy said October marks the beginning of the post-monsoon cyclone period, when the northeast monsoon sets in over the region in the second half of the month. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu draw a substantial part of their annual rainfall from it. Strong El Niño conditions are prevalent this year, he said.

Studies from past seasons have shown that in El Niño years, systems forming over the southeastern Bay of Bengal near the Andaman Sea tended to intensify as they traveled towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, Mr. Murthy said.

Published – 01 Sep 2026 21:40 IST