Two consecutive days of rain may have brought some respite to Bangaloreans, but Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials say it is not the monsoon rain. Thirty mm of rainfall was recorded in Bangalore city and 14.4 mm at HAL Airport on Sunday at 11.30 p.m.
The maximum and minimum temperatures stood at 32.6 degrees Celsius and 22 degrees Celsius respectively.
A senior IMD official said the rain was “purely a local activity due to an increase of temperature by three to four degrees Celsius above the normal in Bangalore for the past three or four days.’
“It is not the monsoon yet. The rains the city is receiving are being caused by convection clouds that move vertically upward if moisture is available in the surrounding atmosphere. Cold currents form as they move about three km upwards and there is discharge of current in the clouds causing thundershowers. This is a localised activity,” the official explained. The State has had 50 to 60 per cent deficit rain, the official said, adding that the monsoon was still weak in coastal Karnataka as the required wind speed had not picked up. “It needs to be at least 35 km per hour so that it can bring moisture clouds from oceanic areas. This is yet to happen so the current rain is purely a temporary activity. IMD’s New Delhi office has already said that monsoon will strengthen in the first week of July, maybe on July 6,” the official added.
Though statistically Bangalore has received above normal rainfall, IMD officials said this figure was due to heavy downpour on one or two days, but technically the rain received this year was half compared to last year.
Officials also said the monsoon season had hit coastal and south interior Karnataka on June 9. “This year, there was a delay of about three or four days for the monsoon to set in, as usually it hits south interior Karnataka around June 5 after setting in Kerala on June 1,” an official said.
Woman diesMeanwhile, a woman died after a compound wall collapsed on her due to heavy rain here on Sunday.
The dead woman was identified as Thimmamma (54), a resident of Sanakki Bayalu near Kamakshipalya.
And, six tree falls were reported from across the city.
