Indore: The onset of nautapa this year offered respite from the usual intense summer heat experienced during this period. On Sunday, the city recorded a day temperature of 33.8 degrees Celsius — a notable 7 degrees below the seasonal average — thanks to persistent cloud cover and cool winds.

However, the night temperature remained slightly high at 26.5 degrees Celsius, a degree above the normal minimum for this time of the year.This deviation from the typical scorching temperature during Nautapa comes amid an unusual weather pattern caused by multiple synoptic systems. According to the Met department, a combination of two cyclonic circulations and an upper air trough stretching from the east-central Arabian Sea to north Odisha is currently influencing the weather across Madhya Pradesh.

A well-marked low-pressure area over southern Maharashtra is also contributing to these conditions.Met department has issued a yellow alert for Indore and adjoining districts with forecast of thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds ranging from 40 to 50 km/h over the next four days. Organge alert has been issued for Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, and Alirajpur, anticipating wind speed of up to 60 km/h."Temperature has dropped across most parts of south-east and western Madhya Pradesh.

Over the next five days, isolated to scattered rainfall, drizzles, thunderstorms, and lightning are expected to continue across central and southern regions of the state. No significant change in temperature is anticipated," said Dr Divya E Surendran, meteorological scientist at IMD Bhopal.On Sunday, the city experienced a maximum temperature of 32.4 degrees Celsius by 5:30pm and a morning temperature of 29 degrees Celisus at 8:30am.

Despite the lower temperature, high humidity levels — 69% in the morning and 54% by evening — led to moderate discomfort. Weather experts have noted that this May had resembled a pre-monsoon rain season rather than a dry summer spell. And residents are hopeful that rain and gusty winds will ease the humidity and make the nautapa period more bearable. Temperature across the Indore and Ujjain divisions remained below normal.

Dhar recorded a day temperature of 33.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday, while Khandwa recorded 35.1, Khargone 35.4, Ratlam 38.4, and Ujjain 35.5.According to the Met department, the southwest monsoon has advanced over Kerala on May 24 and further progressed across more parts of the state on Sunday — nearly a week ahead of its normal onset date of June 1. It has also extended over the Lakshadweep region, parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and Mizoram. The monsoon is expected to reach other parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra in the coming days.