Bangalore: December may still be about a month away, but with the frosty nip in the air, winter seems to have already arrived in namma Bengaluru.
No wonder Bangaloreans have pulled out the woolies, windcheaters, mackintoshes, scarves and shawls from the closet and donning them to brave and beat the icy chill.
The reasons are not far to seek, according to the Indian Meteorological Department officials. Chilly northerly winds, slight clouding during the day and clear sky at night, the IMD officials say, have ensured the mercury levels have dropped earlier than expected.
Besides, the IMD has forecast slight rain over parts of south interior Karnataka in the next 48 hours which is expected to result in a further drop in the mercury levels.
Observing that it was quite normal, the IMD officials attributed the steady fall in temperatures to the north-west monsoon season and the sparse rainfall seen in November.
Pointing out that while the day temperatures were getting chilly due to the cumulus cloud cover, IMD officials said the nights were getting even more shivering cool, as, though the earth radiates a lot of heat, the cold wind blowing is making it that much more discomforting.
Winter arrives in Bangalore generally in December and stays put till February. However, the current factors are mirroring the winter months already.
Presently, the maximum and minimum temperatures are hovering around 26 and 17 degrees Celsius, respectively, which incidentally is a tad two degrees below normal.
Likely to dip further
According to IMD Bangalore Director B Puttanna, temperatures are likely to dip further with slight rainfall anticipated because of the prevailing system in the Bay of Bengal.
“There is a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to become deep depression within the next 48 hours. Under this influence, temperatures will dip further in interior Karnataka and Bangalore will experience around 1-2 mm rainfall.”
