BENGALURU: With the mercury falling below 10 degrees Celsius in several parts of Karnataka, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a cold wave alert for most parts of north interior and coastal districts for the next two days. Bagalkot on Tuesday morning saw a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Celsius below normal).
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While Vijayapura recorded 7 degrees Celsius (9.1 degrees Celsius below normal), Bidar saw 7.5 degrees Celsius (8.2 degrees Celsius below normal). The minimum temperature in Ballari was 9 degrees Celsius and it was 9.9 degrees Celsius in Mandya. Shirguppi in Dharwad district recorded a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius. According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), 194 stations in Karnataka recorded a minimum temperature below 10 degrees Celsius, including five locations in Bengaluru- Uttarahalli (9.4), Sulibele (8), Kanasawadi in Doddaballapur (9), and Tubagere (9.8). Cold wave conditions prevailed over Bidar, Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts of north interior Karnataka on Monday and Tuesday. While Bengaluru city experienced dry spell, the minimum temperature hovered around 14.3 degrees Celsius.
The temperature was 13.8 degrees Celsius in HAL airport. “Over the last two years, Bengaluru city has not experienced severe cold as in the past where the mercury would drop to 8-9 degrees Celsius. This is because of increasing concretisation. Bengaluru had recorded the lowest minimum of 7.9 degrees Celsius in 1884,” an IMD official said.
A senior IMD official told TNIE that the alert has been issued as the minimum temperature has dropped below normal by 6-7 degrees Celsius in more than two stations for at least two days. Also, there is prevailing northerly winds. The official also stated that the winter chill will die down after three days as the southeasterly winds will start to prevail due to the formation of troughs.