The stage is set for arrival of monsoon in the city, with the wind direction having turned from an easterly to a westerly direction on Sunday, said officials at the Met centre here.
At 10 cm recorded in half an hour, Saturday evening’s downpour may have come close to breaking an all-time record in the city, but it did not meet several criteria that are needed to declare it a monsoon, said B. Puttanna, director of the Met centre.
Criteria
“The wind direction remained easterly on Saturday and several areas around Bangalore had not received even 2.5 mm of rainfall, which is the minimum requirement for the department to declare the monsoon over any region. Friday’s rainfall was an exceptionally heavy pre-monsoon thundershower,” he added.
After an early onset over the State on Saturday, the monsoon made little progress, with only four districts — Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysore and Chamarajanagar — covered by the system by Sunday.
June, which on an average sees 8.9 cm of rainfall in the city, typically has only six rainy days. The following five months of monsoon sees the city get progressively rainier, with a peak in September, which traditionally receives around 24.1 cm.
Mangalore drenched
On Sunday, the monsoon showers were heaviest in Mangalore in Dakshina Kannada, which received 7 cm rain.
Pre-monsoon thundershowers in Tumkur and Udupi were significant, at 6 cm rain and 4 cm rain respectively.
Advancement
The conditions are favourable for the monsoon to advance northwards over the State in the next two days, says a Met Department bulletin.
