KOCHI: The thundershowers that have been lashing the state for the past two days have come as huge relief to the people reeling under scorching heat and sultry weather conditions in the wake of an early ‘summer’ spell.
Most of the districts in the state received moderate rainfall, offering solace to many who were expecting a near-water starvation situation by mid-March.
“Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram received the highest rainfall of 13 cm, followed by Kollam and Palakkad with 7 cm each. Karipur, Thrithala, Vadakkancherry, Aluva, Chalakkudi, Enamackel, Piravom, Thodupazha and Perinthalmanna also received reasonable rainfall,” according to the data provided by Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
However, experts said though the rain has provided the much-needed respite from the scorching heat, it would not last long. “In 2016, there was a sharp decrease of rainfall (34 per cent) in the state during the south-west monsoon.
The north-west monsoon too failed, resulting in Kerala facing an extreme drought threat. The atmospheric temperature had also increased during the last two-three weeks. This has resulted in low pressure formation in Arabian sea, which led to the rain that we received during the past two days,” said C K Rajan, climate expert.
“As the low pressure is moving towards north, other areas are also likely to get heavy rain in the coming days. This downpour does not have the characteristics of summer showers, which are usually restricted to smaller areas and accompanied by heavy thunder,” he said.
Meanwhile, agriculture experts said the rain would be beneficial to farmers cultivating vegetables. “Rubber farmers, who have given a break for tapping, will be able to restart it a bit earlier as the rain will help new leaves grow faster. However, with the climate turning unpredictable in the state in the past few years, it is yet to ascertain the advantages of the advanced rain,” they said.