January puzzle: Warm winter, drizzle surprise B’lureans

Unseasonably warm weather across the state right in the middle of winter has left many scratching their heads.

While most of the country is in the grip of an intense cold wave, the peninsular region has been witnessing a warm winter this time, according to meteorologists, thanks to prevailing upper air circulation condition over the Bay of Bengal and off the coast of Karnataka.

This has resulted in cloudy conditions, which is shielding the region from the northern cold winds.

Due to the prevailing conditions, the state has been witnessing increasing minimum temperatures, making the night warmer even in the middle of the winter season.

According to officials at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), winter may have been severe if the northerly winds had swept the region.

“Karnataka is sandwiched between a unique wind pattern sweeping in the opposite direction—East and West. This has prevented the intrusion of northern cold winds. Currently, we are witnessing easterly to south-easterly along with the southernly in some regions in the north Karnataka region,” an official of KSNDMC said.

Winds from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are bringing in moisture, resulting in the formation of clouds.

“Due to cloudy weather, heat gets trapped in between, leaving the region warm. However, the situation will dramatically change towards the end of this week with clear skies and sudden fall in the night temperature,” the official explained.

Surprisingly, cloudy weather over Bengaluru led to drizzle in some parts of the city, including Kodigehalli (3.5 mm), Radhakrishna ward (0.5mm), Srinivasanagar, Jayanagar areas. Areas like Doddaballapura, Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural witnessed moderate rainfall.

Experts said that cloudy condition will continue for another two to three days, with light to moderate rainfall in isolated areas.

GS Patil, Director, IMD, Bengaluru said, “On Monday we recorded a rainfall of about 0.5 mm while the wind speed was only 14 km/hour in and around Bengaluru. By Wednesday, conditions will be mostly sunny with clear sky and temperature may stabilise to a normal level for the season.”