Ahmedabad shivers at 8.1C

AHMEDABAD: Breaking the earlier record of sub-10 degree temperature in February for Ahmedabad city for four years, Saturday reported 8.1 degrees celsius. Friday had reported 9.4 degrees as part of the ongoing cold wave in most parts of Gujarat.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) website, cold wave and cold day conditions prevailed in parts of Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch with northerly to northeasterly winds prevailing at lower level over the region.
For Ahmedabad, the maximum temperature was recorded at 25 degrees celsius which was 4.9 degrees below normal temperature for the day, whereas minimum temperature was 8.1 degrees which was 5.1 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature might rise up to 9 degrees in next two days, mentioned the website.
While a cold wave warning was given for Saturday for most parts of Gujarat, IMD extended it for another day - Sunday - for Valsad, Surat and Vadodara. After Sunday, a gradual rise in temperature is expected.
On Saturday, Naliya was the coldest at 5.8 degrees followed by Gandhinagar (6.4 degrees), Deesa (6.6 degrees), Kandla (7.8 degrees), Ahmedabad (8.1 degrees), Surendranagar (8.5 degrees), Valsad (9.1 degrees) and Vadodara (9.4 degrees).
“A cyclonic circulation was prevailing over Rajasthan and Gujarat which has dissipated. The wind velocity has also come down compared to past couple of days. We can expect a steady rise in temperature,” said an IMD official.
Citizens said the spell of cold in January and February this year was definitely sharper than in normal winters in Gujarat. However, IMD officials said that it is not a very big deviation.
For the administrators, the long spell however brought additional worry due to outbreak of flu this year. Over 50 lives have been lost so far in swine flu as the number of cases have remained steady for nearly a month.
A drop in swine flu cases is expected with a rise in temperature, AMC officials said.