Rain god showers blessings, brings down mercury levels

Coimbatore: The rainfall has brought cheers to the residents, who were staring at dog days ahead after two weeks of high temperatures. The district has recorded 23.5mm rainfall through Wednesday and Thursday morning, bringing down the mercury levels.
The district, the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) said, had already received 213mm rainfall, which was almost 19mm more than the normal rainfall (194mm) during the southwest monsoon.
Weather experts, meanwhile, said rain is likely to lash the district for at least another two more days. According to them, the district would get another 20mm rainfall.
The residents said they were surprised when the mercury levels suddenly started to rise in the fourth week of August after enjoying a pleasant climate - cloudy skies, light drizzles, windy evenings and below 30C temperatures - for more than a month. There were days when the mercury levels went up to 36C, which is the city’s usual temperature during summer.
Bringing them respite from sweltering sun, rain lashed the district on Tuesday night, when it recorded 13mm showers. There was rain on Wednesday too which lasted until Thursday morning, and this time the district recorded 23.5mm rainfall.
As per the meteorological department’s rain gauge, the district has received only 144mm rainfall. On the other hand, TNAU’s rain gauge, which usually records more rainfall due to its proximity to the Western Ghats, has recorded 213mm rainfall.
S P Ramanathan, director, Agro Climate Research Centre, TNAU, says, “The monsoon winds are heavily blowing in this direction and rain can be expected until Saturday evening.”
A good southwest monsoon like the one the district saw last year usually improves the groundwater levels to a large extent, giving sugarcane, turmeric and groundnut farmers the confidence to sow their crops during the rabi season. So, even if northeast monsoon showers are slightly lesser than predicted, the crops would survive through the season.