Thundershowers brought on by an upper air cyclonic circulation over the Arabian Sea lashed several parts of the State over the last 48 hours, with coastal areas bearing the biggest brunt. The weather system, which is moving towards the peninsula, will, however, lose strength as it crosses the coast and may dissipate by Saturday, said B. Puttanna, director of the meteorological centre, here. Until then almost all parts of the State can expect rainfall, according to the weather bulletin.
Thundershowers increased in intensity on Thursday as the system approached the coast.
Gokarna in Uttara Kannada received 130 mm between Wednesday and Thursday morning, while 110 mm was recorded in MM Hills in Chamarajnagar. Several parts of Belgaum and Haveri received between 40 mm to 50 mm of rain.
And the downpour brought with it a big dip in temperatures. In Bangalore, for instance, 7 mm of rain was sufficient to bring down the day-time temperature to 26.7 degrees on Thursday, nearly eight degrees below the normal 34 degrees Celsius for this time of year. Low pressure systems such as these are often preceded by a spell of intense heat, Mr. Puttanna said. The month of May is also known as the “cyclone month” for the cyclonic storms that frequently occur. “But the present weather system has developed too close to the coast to turn into a cyclone,” he said.
