Just chill! Bengaluru set for big freeze

Just chill! Bengaluru set for big freeze

December 23rd, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Tags: Bengaluru, coldest phase, fall in temperatures, winter

Dec. 22: The Big Chill has hit Bengaluru. The city has entered the coldest phase of the year and the mercury is likely to drop even further in Bengaluru in the coming days. The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that the minimum temperature might fall to 10º Celsius in the outskirts and 12-13ºC in the city.
IMD Bengaluru director B. Puttanna told Deccan Chronicle that once existing weather systems weaken, the sky is likely to clear, contributing to an added drop in temperature.
“The city is on the ridge of two weather systems prevailing over the east and west coasts and this is causing the unusually chill weather,” Mr Puttanna said. “Winds blowing from the east are carrying a lot of moisture which is causing the cold wave and isolated precipitation in and around Bengaluru.”
There is a trough of low pressure over southwestern Bay of Bengal off the Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka coasts and another low pressure trough over the eastern Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep to the Kerala and Karnataka coasts.
“With wind speeds of around 15 knots (about 28 kmph), these systems are bringing rain to parts of the state,” Mr Puttanna said.
But it is when these systems weaken that it is really going to freeze over. The city is likely to register its lowest minimum temperature in the past few years when the skies are cloud-free. “The mean average temperatures during December in the city are 15.9ºC and 26.3ºC. The phase between December 23 and January 4 this time around will see the position of the sun remaining the same and this, coupled with extended nights, is likely to cause a drop in temperature,” Mr Puttanna explained.