Rainfall in Karnataka expected to continue till May 20: IMD

The effects of the cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea, are likely to be felt in the state up to May 20, said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru on Sunday.

Since the cyclonic storm is moving towards the north-west direction, the intensity of rainfall will gradually decrease from May 17 according to the weatherman. This combined with the forthcoming monsoons could mean the end of summer to the state, experts say.

Tauktae, which is travelling towards Goa and predicted to move to Gujarat from there, has caused heavy and very heavy rainfall in many parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka.

On May 15, Kollur in Udupi recorded 24 cm rainfall, followed by 19 cm in Kota and Puttur. Over the next four days, it is predicted that Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts are likely to receive heavy or very heavy rainfall at isolated places and yellow alerts have been issued for the same. North interior and south interior Karnataka might experience fairly widespread rainfall till May 20 IMD has said.

Also read: Cyclone Tauktae: 98 villages affected in Karnataka, 4 human lives lost so far

Sunil Gavaskar, a scientist at KSNDMC said “although several parts of the state received heavy rainfall in the past two days, and high tide inundations were felt all along the coast. Since the cyclone is now moving away from our state, the impact is likely to come down from Monday.” He also said that Bengaluru will experience cloudy weather with light to moderate, scattered rainfall and breeze in the next 2-3 days. The pleasant weather is expected to continue in the city until the monsoon rains start.

The onset of monsoon in Kerala is predicted to occur on May 31 this year, a day earlier than the usual onset on June 1, according to the IMD. The state is likely to experience average or above average monsoon this year, according to the prediction. “After onset, it might take 2-3 days for the monsoon winds to reach Karnataka. Depending on the strength of the winds, it might reach coastal, south interior and Malnad regions by June 5th or a couple days before or after”, Gavaskar explained.