BENGALURU: Hot weather has been the topic of discussion for a majority of Bengalureans this week, and not without good reason. The city experienced its warmest December day on December 26 since recording of temperature was started, with mercury rising to 31.4 degrees Celsius, the maximum temperature recorded by the Indian Meteorological Department in the month so far.
The temperature showed a departure of 4.7 degrees C from the normal for the season. The previous highest temperature recorded in December — one of the coldest months of the year — was 31.1 degrees C — in 2003 and in 1926. As per the IMD, the maximum temperature on December 27 dropped to 29.6 degrees C. On both days, the maximum temperatures were recorded around 5.30 pm.
The maximum temperatures recorded from the stations at HAL Airport and KIAL were 30.3 and 30.1 degrees C, respectively. GS Srinivasa Reddy, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, attributed the high temperature to lack of movement of weather systems. “Whatever systems have developed over the Bay of Bengal have not moved towards Karnataka. These systems cause a reduction in temperatures,” he said.
Reddy said the maximum temperature is expected to come down as the city had a cloud cover on December 27. “Even minimum temperatures have increased by about 2-3 degrees,” he said. The minimum temperature recorded on December 26 was 19.0 degrees, showing a departure of 3.1 degrees from normal.
Reddy said even on the national scale, Karwar in coastal Karnataka recorded one of the highest temperatures of 37.6 degrees in the country for this time of the year some time last week.
Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet, an independent weather forecast agency, said the reason for the high temperature could be obstruction of the cold northwestern winds due to a western disturbance travelling across Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh.
“In the absence of those winds and in the presence of a clear sky during winters, the temperature may rise. But such changes are short-term and the temperature is expected to reduce post 24 hours as the cold northwesterly winds will resume,” Palawat said.
The IMD has forecast fog/mist in the morning and partly cloudy sky later for December 28, with an expected maximum and minimum temperatures of 30 and 19 degrees, respectively.