Bengaluru saw its wettest April in seven years as heavy rains have been lashing the city every evening for the past ten days. Since April 1, Bengaluru has received a total rainfall of 134 mm, a weather blogger said on on Twitter. According to data by the India Meteorological Department, the amount of rainfall Bengaluru receives in the month of April has gradually increased over the past few years.
Bengaluru received 118.2 mm of rain in April 2021, 121.1 mm in April 2020, and just 17.8 mm in April 2019. The highest amount of rainfall Bengaluru received in the past ten years was in 2015, when Bengaluru received 226.5 mm of rain over April. Bengaluru’s all-time record is from 2001 when the city received 323.8 mm of rain in April.
Rains are likely to continue in Bengaluru for the next couple of days as well. Bengaluru will see a generally cloudy sky over the next 24 hours, and IMD has predicted some rain and thundershowers. “Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum temperatures very likely to be around 34 and 21 degrees Celsius respectively,” the Met Department in Bengaluru has said.
According to IMD officials, there is a trough running from Telangana to Tamil Nadu across the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh, which explains the rains in Bengaluru. Another cause for this is a cyclonic circulation off the coast of Tamil Nadu, Dr Geeta Agnihotri, scientist, IMD, said. “Under the influence of this system, the entire south interior Karnataka has received fairly widespread rains,” she said. The official added that while the rains will continue during the week, the intensity will decrease as the weather systems pass.
On Tuesday, April 19, rainfall occurred at many places over south-interior Karnataka and at a few places over coastal and north-interior Karnataka. Bengaluru has been witnessing rains in the evenings for the past few days, providing respite as temperatures soar. However, while the showers managed to cool the city for short spells, the weather remained damp due to high humidity. On Monday, April 18, the IMD said that humidity levels were upwards of 95% over the last few days. The weather watchdog said that Bengaluru will continue to see high humidity over the coming days as a result of the weather systems.