North-interior Karnataka, a traditionally arid and drought-prone meteorological subdivision, has been inundated with rain this month. According to the meteorological centre here, in the past week the area received nearly three times its normal rainfall for the period.
Between September 5 and 11, north-interior Karnataka recorded 65 mm rain, a significant departure from the average of 23 mm that the area sees normally, said the meteorological centre. Each one of the 11 districts that make up north-interior Karnataka recorded rainfall in excess of the average.
Yadgir received 140 mm last week, which was around four times the normal of 34 mm. The other districts that saw a large departure from average were Gadag (17 mm normal, 76 mm actual), Bagalkot (17 mm normal, 65 mm actual) and Kopal (21 mm normal, 78 mm actual).
Meteorological centre director B. Puttanna attributed this to a series of low pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal that moved northwest towards the peninsula. While these systems have weakened, a new upper air cyclonic circulation could bring more rain to the State, he said.
September, the final month of the southwest monsoon, happens to be one of the heaviest rainfall months for eastern Karnataka districts, he said.
