If the heat does not get you, rain will

BENGALURU, September 5, 2015

Thundershowers and heavy rain in the evening led to a traffic jam on Mysuru road, in Bengaluru on Friday.

The temperature was around 36 degrees Celsius at noon, but it rained in the night

There is a popular joke about Bengaluru’s weather oft told and shared on social media: “Give me some sunshine, give me some rain” goes the lyrics of a popular Bollywood song; “Then why don’t you come to Bengaluru” goes the punchline.

From rising mercury levels during the day to heavy rains in the evening, Bengaluru proved this on Friday.

According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the temperature was hovering around 36 degrees Celsius late afternoon.

The Indian Meteorological Department – the Central weather monitoring agency – records Bengaluru’s discomfort at 31.7 degrees Celsius, which was four degrees above normal, according to its analysis, as well as being the hottest day in September since 2012. The two agencies placed the humidity between 75 per cent and 90 per cent.

However, evening saw thunderstorms and heavy rain. As is the norm, traffic piled up, as main roads were inundated and fallen tree branches blocked traffic movement.

“The high temperatures were purely temporary. There is a weather system developing over Comorin and the rains are expected to last at least five days,” an official said.

The searing heat was consistent with the dry August. Currently, this monsoon has been 18 per cent deficient (according to IMD). The KSNDMC notes that all weeks of August had seen scanty rainfall.

“The State has seen 27 per cent deficient monsoon in August. Usually, we see an off-shore trough (area of low pressure in the coast that leads to rains) around August in coastal Karnataka. But this time, we have not seen it in our charts,” says Geeta Agnihotri, Senior Director, IMD.