Pune Scorches as Lohgaon Records Season’s Hottest Day at 43.1°C; Akola Hits 44.1°C
Pune, 18th April 2025: Large parts of Maharashtra, including Pune, continued to suffer under extreme heat conditions on Thursday, with mercury levels soaring across districts. Lohgaon registered its highest temperature of the season at 43.1°C, while Akola was the hottest spot in the state — and among the hottest in the country — at a blistering 44.1°C.
The heat intensified compared to the previous day, with Lohgaon inching up from Wednesday’s 43°C. Shivajinagar, another key area in Pune, saw a slight dip, settling at 40.3°C after touching 41.2°C a day earlier — a change that offered little relief from the persistent discomfort.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for several districts including Pune, Satara, Solapur, Parbhani, Jalgaon, Beed, and Ahilyanagar. The alert is expected to remain in place for the next few days, warning residents to prepare for continued high temperatures.
An IMD official attributed the rising heat to a phenomenon called temperature advection — warm air moving in from northwestern India. “We’re currently seeing temperatures 1 to 3 degrees Celsius above normal across much of the region,” the official said. “In places like Lohgaon, the anomaly is even more severe — over 5 degrees higher than the seasonal average.”
Health authorities have urged the public to avoid outdoor exposure between 11 am and 4 pm, stay well-hydrated, and take standard heat safety precautions to avoid heat exhaustion or heatstroke.
Elsewhere in India, Bikaner in Rajasthan recorded the country’s highest temperature on Thursday at 45.1°C, underscoring the scale of the heatwave sweeping through central and western regions.
