Bengaluru shivers, but cold nights won’t last long

BENGALURU: As the year gradually draws to a close, the mercury level is plummeting, according to Karnataka State Natural Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) recordings. But this won’t last long, says the weatherman.

Night temperature in Bengaluru Urban dipped to 11.7 degrees Celsius on Monday, one of the lowest among the state’s 30 districts. At 10.8 degrees, the mercury level in neighbouring Bengaluru Rural was even lower. In the city too, temperature remained low in the last few days, especially at night.

While many on social media said they couldn’t bear the sudden change in weather and that winter has turned severe, some old Bengalureans begged to differ. “I miss the cold winters we used to have in here years ago. The current weather is nowhere close in comparison,” tweeted Imran.

While experts with KSNDMC attribute the dip in minimum temperature to cyclone Phethai, they say temperature levels will normalise in the next few days. SSM Gavaskar, scientist at KSNDMC, said many parts of Karnataka are receiving chill winds due to the cyclone and the same resulted in a dip in temperature. “This, coupled with enhanced cloud cover over the region, has kept temperatures low,” he added.

Gavaskar, however, said this effect will be short-lived. “Dry weather with good sunshine is expected to be back within the next few days,” he added.

Even the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted mercury levels won’t drop significantly this winter season. However, according to IMD, minimum temperature has dipped to only to 14.4 degrees Celsius in Bengaluru. And this, according to them, is a 2-degree departure from normal. The difference in the recordings of IMD and KSNDMC is attributed to the number of monitoring stations each has.

Other parts too feel the chill

According to KSNDMC, some more districts are experiencing cold nights. They include Kolar (11.5 degrees Celsius), Kodagu (11.6), Chikkaballapura and Hassan (11.8), Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara (12), Chikkamagaluru (12.3), Shivamogga and Tumakuru district (12.6).

Scientists at the centre said the lowest minimum temperature of 7.3 degrees Celsius for the state was recorded in Belagodu hobli of Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district on Monday night. “Almost 76% of the state’s geographical area recorded a minimum temperature in the range of 12 to 18 degrees. Minimum temperature in the range of 7 to 9 degrees Celsius was recorded in parts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura and Dharwad districts,” said a scientist here.