BENGALURU: A few days ago it was cloudy and cold, coupled with light showers, due to a cyclone over Tamil Nadu. But the temperature is going up already, despite winter coming soon.
According to officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), temperatures are predicted to be 1-2 degrees Celsius above normal during the day and night this year, which means that there will be no biting cold experience this season. This will have multiple impacts, including the yield of the king of fruits – mango, which flowers in December.
A Prasad, scientist, IMD Bengaluru, told The New Sunday Express that because of the El Nino effect, the day (maximum) temperature will be one degree Celsius above normal and the minimum (night) temperature will be 2 degrees Celsius above normal, and Bengaluru is already experiencing it.
Usually, winter starts from end of December, but in Bengaluru and parts of south-interior Karnataka, it starts from the first week of December. Last year, it started from the second week. This year there will be no winter chill, but the weather will be cool and pleasant. Last year, the lowest minimum recorded in December was 15 degrees Celsius. This year, it will probably be on the higher side. The light winter experience will be across Karnataka.
As per IMD records, the city on Wednesday recorded maximum and minimum temperatures of 31.2 and 20.4 degrees Celsius. On Thursday, it recorded a maximum of 31.2 and a minimum of 20.4 degrees Celsius. The normal temperatures for Bengaluru for the season are 26.9 and 16.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
On mangoes, CG Nagaraju, Managing Director, Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation, said flowering has been less so far as this is not the season yet. The recent cyclone that brought rain in parts of Karnataka, including Srinivaspur -- where the fruits are grown on large tracts of land, also impacted flowering.
He explained that mango is a hardy crop, but sensitive to climatic conditions.It needs cool evening and night temperatures and warm days for the stress to be induced in flowers to get a good yield. To discuss the climatic conditions and decide the next course of action, a technical committee meeting is going to be held in the coming days, he added.