Coimbatore has been lucky this summer as the weather god has showered not only three times the average rain but also ensured that the sky remained overcast on most days.
Data available with the Agro Climate Research Centre at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University says that as against 67 mm average rainfall that Coimbatore had been experiencing in May as part of the summer showers, the district had thus far recorded 235 mm, which is not only more than three times the average but more than the rain the district is expected to get during summer shower period – March, April and May.
The average for the summer shower period is 136 mm and the rain in May thus far has been 235 mm, said the Centre's head S. Panneerselvam.
This rainfall in May is perhaps the highest the district has experienced in the last 100 years. And, this has come in 10 rainy days. A day that gets more than 2.50 mm rainfall is considered a rainy day.
The unprecedented rainfall is because of the movement of air from over Arabian Sea to low pressure areas in north and north-western India and as the air moved, it gathered moisture from the Sea bringing rain to Coimbatore and southern and coastal Karnataka as well.
The district will continue experience a few more showers in the coming days, he says.
The impact of the unprecedented rain on Coimbatore has been that the mercury has come down giving residents a not-so-hot summer. The weather pattern in summer has been that temperature rises starting the third week of March, peaks in April and comes down in the third week of May, with the onset of the South West Monsoon.
The maximum temperature average for Coimbatore in May is 34.5 degree Celsius with the highest being around 39 degree Celsius. Usually, most days during the summer see very high temperature but that gets averaged when day temperature drops in the immediate aftermath of rain.
But this year, the day temperature in May has hovered around 31.5 degree Celsius and there has been no drastic increase as in previous years.
In short, summer 2018 has more or less been like summer 2015, when the district not only experienced very good rain (260 mm in March, April and May) but also similar weather, he adds.
