Winter chill to continue till February, says IMD

This time, winter set in later than the previous years and will also retreat later. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, the chill will continue till early February.

According to the Director of IMD, Bengaluru, winter set in at the end of December. This was
due to various factors including heavy rainfall during the month of November. Normally, the temperature begins to dip during the month of November, but this time it was delayed. These low temperatures are likely to continue till February and from the end of first or second week of February, the mercury will begin to rise.

Though the maximum and minimum temperatures have been hovering around the normal figures, people have been feeling the chill because of the prevailing winds. The temperatures are lower on the outskirts of the City and around the international airport because of the surrounding open spaces. The normal maximum and minimum temperatures for Bengaluru are 27 and 15 degrees Celsius, respectively. On Wednesday, the maximum and minimum temperatures in the City were 28.4 and 15.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

When compared to last 10 years, the maximum temperatures in the City have been less. The maximum tempertaure ever in the City for the month of January was on January 24, 2006 at 32.5 degrees Celsius and the next being 31.2 degrees Celsius on January 28, 2008.  The lowest minimum recorded temperature for the City in the last 10 years for January was 12 degrees Celsius on January 16, 2012, and the next lowest was 12.2 degrees Celsius, recorded on January 19, 2009.

Since January 1, 2016, the maximum temperature in the City was 29 degrees Celsius, on January 4. The lowest minimum was 12.9 degree Celsius, on January 2, 2016.