After a brief lull with relatively less heat, it is going to be hot again for at least the next 10 days, before the pre-monsoon showers bring the mercury down in Hyderabad capital region and the rest of Telangana, said meteorologists at the Telangana Development Planning Society (TGDPS) on Monday.

Maximum temperatures, which have ranged between 38C and 40C in Hyderabad and 40C to 43C in the hinterlands over the past few days, are likely to rise further. Minimum temperatures are also expected to hover between 22°C and 28°C.

“Day temperatures are likely to rise again up to 42C in Hyderabad and its environs in the coming days while in the districts, it could go up to 44C once again. There is little sign of any relief in the form of any rain during this period,” informed senior weather consultant Y.V. Rama Rao, in an exclusive interaction.

But, pre-monsoon showers are expected to arrive around May 22-25 once monsoon activity begins in the Bay of Bengal around May 20, he said.

As has been the pattern in the past three years, this year’s summer arrived early — in March itself — with even north India experiencing higher maximum temperatures, pointed out the weatherman.

Till the end of April, maximum temperatures had touched 45C to 46C in several parts of the State, triggering heatwave conditions in north Telangana and other regions, while the twin cities recorded temperatures of up to 42.5C. However, from the beginning of May, typically the peak summer period when temperatures usually climb to 46C or 47C, a declining trend has been observed, Mr. Rao said.

Due to the impact of the “more than normal” westerlies in the north and easterlies from the Bay of Bengal in this region, there have been intermittent showers, bringing down the maximum temperature by a few notches.

Meanwhile, city-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, in its latest bulletin, warned about the probability of El Niño as the dominant phase from May onwards through January 2027, with probabilities ranging from 80-90%.

El Niño refers to the warm eastern Pacific Ocean warming associated with the positive phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A prevailing El Niño condition in the Pacific Ocean has an adverse effect on the Indian monsoon rainfall. It could cause stronger and prolonged marine heatwaves in the northern Indian Ocean, damaging the ecological balance, coral reefs and significant losses to the fishery industry, said scientists.