Udhagamandalam: The ‘welcome summer shower’ that lasted for an hour drenched the hill town on Thursday and brought down the temperatures.
While Kotagiri taluk had received a few showers in March, Ooty had been experiencing a prolonged dry spell. Locals have been waiting for the summer showers since the first week of April, mainly for sufficient drinking water supply.
While the core part of Ooty town received good rain, the surrounding areas witnessed moderate showers. The Coonoor town had experiencing good showers in the past two days. While Coonoor registered 19.5mm rainfall for 24 hours ending Thursday 7am, Hulical in Coonoor taluk received 21mm rainfall. Kodanadu recorded 16mm and Devala 22mm of rain.
“Waterbodies and reservoirs in and around Ooty town received good rainfall. We expect a few more summer showers during this month,” an Ooty municipality official said.
According to horticulture officials, the rain is beneficial for plants in the botanical and rose gardens in Ooty. “The standing vegetable crops are favoured by the good shower today,” an official said.
Mercury had been fluctuating between 21 and 24 degrees Celsius, which is considered very warm in the hills, in the past weeks.
On Thursday, with a cloudy sky, the maximum temperature recorded in Ooty was 18 degrees Celsius.
Weather reports suggest that Ooty and surroundings would receive rain on Thursday night and Friday.
“Water supply is a concern in the town during the summer. We hope for more showers in the coming weeks,” K Kumar, a resident of Ooty, said.