The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Monsoon to hit State by May 31

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Monsoon to hit State by May 31

Staff Reporter

Pre-monsoon showers bring temperature down

Monsoon will arrive a couple of days earlier this year
Heavy rain expected over coastal, south interior Karnataka

Bangalore: The intermittent pre-monsoon rain in Bangalore has been signalling the southwest monsoon for a few weeks now. The monsoon, which was forecast to arrive in Kerala three days earlier than usual on May 29, will touch the Karnataka coast on May 30 or 31 and make its presence felt in Bangalore by June 3 or 4, according to the Meteorological Centre here.

“The normal onset of monsoon for Bangalore is June 5, and the rain covers the rest of the State between June 10 and 15. The monsoon will arrive a couple of days earlier than usual in the State this year,” said A. Muthuchami, Director of the Meteorological Centre. This forecast was arrived at through a statistical model, which analyses sea surface temperature, the intensity of pre-monsoon thundershowers over peninsula and other parameters, he said.

Meanwhile, the pre-monsoon showers have been intensifying over the last few weeks, bringing 3 mm of rain to the city on Tuesday evening. According to the Meteorological Centre, coastal and south interior Karnataka, including Bangalore, can expect heavy rain measuring nearly 70 mm over the next two days. “These localised thundershowers are characteristic of pre-monsoon rain and generally occur in the evenings. They start in March and intensify by the end of May as the monsoon approaches, said M. B. Rajegowda, Professor, Department of Agrometeorology, University of Agricultural Sciences.

Indeed, the weather has been anything but consistent over the last fortnight with temperatures soaring to 35.6 degrees on May 13 before plummeting to 20.4 degrees on May 24 after a brief shower, leaving the hapless Bangalorean to battle with a daily decision over whether to leave home with an umbrella or a pair of sunglasses.

However, a variation in the onset of the monsoon by two or three days is too short a time to qualify it as early or late, said Dr. Rajegowda. “These annual fluctuations are normal. It is only when the onset deviates by a week or more that it is considered significant,” he said. The rainfall this monsoon over Karnataka will be normal at 805 mm, which is the State mean southwest rainfall, he added.

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