April showers cool Bengaluru

Bengaluru: After nearly a week of scorching heat and rising anticipation of the seasonal ‘April showers', the city finally witnessed widespread rain Friday, bringing much-needed relief from soaring temperatures. Except for an isolated trace of rain on April 4, Bengaluru remained largely dry despite mercury levels climbing to 35.4°C in recent days.Light to moderate thunderstorms swept across several parts of the city from the afternoon. The India Meteorological Department (IMD)'s central observatory on Palace Road recorded 1.2mm of rainfall until 5:30pm. Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) recorded 7.6mm of rainfall by evening. The weather disrupted air traffic, leading to the diversion of three flights to Chennai. A flight carrying governor Thaawarchand Gehlot was diverted back to Mangaluru.Weather officials indicated that rain is likely to continue over the coming days. IMD scientists have forecast further spells of thundershowers through the weekend. "Given the surge in mercury levels since the beginning of April, the thundershowers were anticipated in the first week of April. But the activity was restricted to a mere trace last Saturday in isolation," explained a senior scientist.N Puviyarasan, scientist and head of IMD, Bengaluru, attributed the sudden intensification of thunderstorm activity to evolving atmospheric conditions. "The thunderstorm activity over the city gained momentum due to an upper air cyclonic circulation over North Tamil Nadu and adjoining parts of Karnataka at 1.5km above the sea level. In addition to this, north-south trough from interior Odisha to Gulf of Mannar extending across the peninsular region has also impacted the thunderstorm activity," he said.IMD also noted that several parts of south interior Karnataka recorded a rise in maximum temperatures ranging between 1.6°C and 3°C above normal in recent days, setting the stage for the current spell of pre-monsoon showers.