People, caught unawares by the sudden spell of rain, near Vidhana Soudha on Thursday.
Credit: DH Photo/Prashanth H G
Bengaluru: Bengaluru received a spell of intense rainfall on Wednesday evening after recording its hottest October day, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows.
The maximum temperature of 32.8°C recorded on Wednesday afternoon was followed by 20.7 mm of rainfall with thunder at night.
Wednesday's temperature was a deviation of over 4°C from the normal. The city's mean daily maximum temperature for October is 28.2°C.
Before this, the city's hottest October day was October 4, 2002, with 32.4°C, according to IMD data.
The start of Navaratri has brought to Bengaluru the promise of generous amounts of rain.
The IMD's Meteorological Centre predicts that the city and nearby regions will see generally cloudy skies with a high likelihood of one or two spells of rain or thundershowers for the rest of this week, with temperatures stabilising at a minimum of 20°C and a maximum of 29°C over the next 48 hours.
The IMD predicts isolated moderate to heavy rainfall for the rest of this week in both Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts.
This is expected to provide some relief to the residents, as the city experienced its driest September since 1934, with just 23.9 mm of rainfall last month.
CS Patil, Director, IMD Bengaluru, noted that the southwest monsoon is expected to withdraw by October 15, while the normal date of the onset of northeast monsoon is October 20 for Karnataka. "What we are seeing in the first week of October is normal southwest monsoon," he told DH.
While September's rainfall was in deficit, all other months saw excess rainfall across the state, but the distribution of rainfall was not uniform. "Normal rainfall is likely in October, November and December over the state because of northeasterly winds," Patil added.
The city's mean total rainfall for October is 168.3 mm with 8.3 rainy days, as per the data.