BENGALURU: With the city experiencing 37 degrees Celsius on Thursday as well as Friday — which is 4.6 degrees Celsius above normal average Bengaluru maximum temperature in March — weather experts have cautioned that the core summer months this year could be harsher than before.
Experts believe that soaring temperatures in the first half of March is an indication of things to come in the core summer months, as maximum temperatures for March is usually recorded during the end of the month. And it is not even the middle of March yet, and the temperatures are already about 5 degrees Celsius above normal.
37.3 degrees Celsius was the highest temperature recorded in Bengaluru for March, which is just 0.3 degrees Celsius more than what it was on Friday.
Weather experts said summer months have been characterised by unnaturally high temperatures, especially in the last four to five years. And this summer season appears to be following the same trend, considering the forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The above normal heat conditions has been attributed to the heatwave conditions in North Tamil Nadu and Rayalseema region in Andhra Pradesh. “IMD has now withdrawn the heatwave warning. The maximum temperatures will drop by a few degrees in the coming days,” according to S S M Gavaskar, Junior Scientific Officer, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell.
Due to the heatwave, maximum temperature in South Interior Karnataka region, including Bengaluru, were in excess of temperatures recorded in North Interior Karnataka. As a result, Ramanagara in Bengaluru’s neighbourhood, recorded temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius in the past few days, which was the highest experienced in Karnataka. Considering the trend observed in the first two summer months, there is a strong likelihood that it will be another warm summer, Gavaskar said.
Although the region received fairly good showers during the last 10-12 days of February, and about about 30-35 mm showers have been recorded during the last week of February during the last four years, it remains to be seen whether rains will bring some relief for Bengalureans in the coming days.
While the heat-induced convection effect could result in isolated thundershowers, at present there are no active systems either in the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal, he said, adding that the coming days will see temperatures above normal although it will not be categorised as a ‘heatwave’.