BENGALURU: The first day of pre-monsoon thundershowers brought the much needed relief to Bengalureans who were reeling under the longest dry spell for the last 160 days. Thunder showers, coupled with strong winds witnessed a dip in the temperature, bringing joy to the citizen who have been waiting for Bengaluru weather to cool down.
According to IMD, before the rain started, at 2.10 pm, the maximum temperature was at 35.5oC, which dropped by 11.3oC soon after the showers.
Children, youth and seniors alike, were enjoying the rain. Many people in Indiranagar, Whitefield, Koramanagala and Sarjapura came out of their offices during lunch hours to take a walk in the rain. People were seen dancing and enjoying the rain in Cubbon Park.
However, the rain resulted in traffic jams, due to water logging near Nagawara and Horamavu underpass. The traffic police had taken to social media to issue alerts of slow moving traffic. Netizens took to social media to share images of the rain fed areas. Reels and images of people welcoming the rain started trending.
“Usually during the day time, the maximum temperature in the city hover around 36-39 degree Celsius. However on Friday, it dipped to 23oC. After rain, temperature was 24.2oC. This rain is due to local convection and a trough. Earlier there was an anti-cyclone at 3.5 kms above mean sea level, which was not favourable for cloud formation. Now it has moved northwards. Due to this, there is clumino-nimbus cloud formation and thundershowers,” IMD director N Puviarasan told TNIE.
On Thursday evening, isolated parts of the city had experienced light to moderate rainfall. However on Friday, Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kolar, and other areas of south interior Karnataka experienced thunder showers. Parts of Mysuru and Kodagu also reported hailstones.
As per IMD, most parts of the city recorded rain from 2.10- 3.20 pm. In some areas, rain continued till 4pm. According to IMD, City recorded 17.2mm rainfall till 5.30 pm. HAL airport recorded 0.3 mm, KIA recorded 0.1mm rain. As per KSNDMC data, maximum rain was recorded in Bidarahalli-45mm, till 5.30 pm. Just a few days ago, Bidarahalli and Kengeri had recorded a maximum temperature of around 41oC. The KSNDMC officials said, most parts of the city recorded 10- 17mm rainfall.
As per IMD, the maximum wind speed was 42 kmph at 2.50 pm, blowing in the northerly direction. City’s maximum temperature at 6 pm was at 25oC, with 89 per cent humidity.
Puviarasan said Bengaluru and other parts of south interior Karnataka will continue to receive rain for the next two days, after which there will be a temperature rise. Thundershowers have been forecast on May 6 and 7 for south interior Karnataka. However heatwave conditions will prevail over north interior Karnataka.
“There were no reports of hailstones in the city as the clumino-nimbus clouds were at a lower height. Thunder showers have been forecast for two days,” he said.