BENGALURU: For the first time since 1989, the North-East monsoon will not reach Karnataka in October. The prolonged dry spell in the second half of October has resulted in extreme temperature fluctuations in Bengaluru and other parts of the state. While the maximum temperature in the city on October 30 was about two degrees Celsius above normal at 30.1 degrees Celsius, it recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius, the lowest for October since 2008. While Bengaluru and parts of south-interior Karnataka are expected to have some relief with the NE monsoon expected to set in in the first week of November, other parts of the state are likely to record higher temperatures owing to the prevailing drought conditions.
Speaking to TNIE, CS Patil, director of India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru, said that several parts of the state were seeing above normal temperatures. According to IMD's daily report for Tuesday, maximum temperatures were above normal - a variation of 1.6 - 3.0 degree Celsius - at most places over Central and many places over South Interior Karnataka.
A few places in central and isolated places in south-interior Karnataka recorded temperatures which were 3.1-5.0 degree Celsius above normal.While maximum temperatures soared, minimum daily temperatures also dipped resulting in higher weather fluctuations. According to Patil, Bengaluru recorded the lowest temperature for October in a decade — after recording a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius.
G S Srinivasa Reddy, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell, said such delays are very rare. "We haven't observed such a delay since 1989 ... the monsoon should have set in by second week or latest by third week (of October)," he said.
"We had expected an early onset of NE monsoon as withdrawal of south-west monsoon began in the second week of October. Though the onset of NE monsoon coincides with the withdrawal of SW monsoon, there has been some anomaly this year," he said. However, south-interior Karnataka and parts of coastal region are expected to receive NE monsoon showers from November 1.
According to the forecast, NE monsoon too is expected to be below normal affecting the late Kharif crop and sowing of Rabi crop. While there are active systems in the Bay of Bengal as NE monsoon advances to south India, easterlies have been quite weak this year owing to the absence of low pressure areas. They are also not strong enough to bring rain to north-interior Karnataka, he said. The state had suffered severe dry spells in 12 of the 16 weeks of SW monsoon season.
Lowest minimum temperature on October 30
Vijayapura recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 11.8 degress Celsius on October 30, which is an all-time lowest ever recorded in October for the past 127 years. Mysuru, meanwhile, recorded a minimum temperature of 11.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 125 years. Dharwad and Haveri recorded the lowest minimum temperature in 18 years at 12.5 degress Celsius and 13 degrees Celsius respectively. Similarly, Chamarajanagar and Davangere recorded their lowest minimum temperature in 18 years by recording 12 and 12.3 degrees Celsius respectively during the early hours of Tuesday.