The weather in Kerala is the exact opposite of the weather in North India these days. While the North is boiling with maximums settling between 42⁰C and 44⁰C, Kerala is witnessing spells of light to moderate rain for the last couple of days. The maximums in the state have dropped to settle in the early thirties.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the weather in Kerala will continue to be rainy and cloudy for a week with isolated to moderate spells in between. Good news is in store for North India too. Dust storms/Thundershowers from the 2nd to the 5th of May in North India could pull down the maximums by 2 to 3 degrees, bringing relief from the intense heat.
Last 24 hours saw widespread moderate to heavy spells of pre-Monsoon showers in many cities of Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram - 29 mm, Alapuzha - 51 mm, Kottayam - 24 mm, Punalur - 76 mm and Kochi – traces of rain. Thiruvananthapuram alone has recorded over 80 mm of rain in the last four days, 35 mm of rain on the 28th of April.
“Pre-Monsoon rain in Kerala commences in March, picks up in April and multiplies in May, with frequent spells of moderate rain. For example, the normal rainfall figure for Kochi for April is around 90 mm, for May it is around 280 mm and for June it is about 700 mm”, says G.P Sharma of Skymet Meteorology Divison.
Due to rain and a persistent cloud cover, maximums in Kerala are settling one to two degrees below normal, between 31⁰C and 34⁰C . The capital city of Kerala recorded a maximum of 31.5⁰C on Wednesday, while Kochi recorded 34.2⁰C. Lack of rain in Kozhikode kept the maximum higher than the rest of the places, at 35.7⁰C.
But nights are quite warm and humid in the state and light winds are the only solace. Minimums are high, between 23⁰C and 26⁰C, as the cloud cover does not allow any radiation at night. Humidity is as high as 90% at night and the wind speed is up to 20 kmph.
“Temperature profile is obviously manifested by the rainfall in the state in a particular month. The maximum temperature for Kerala in April is 33⁰C, it is 32⁰C in May and 30⁰C or below, during the rainiest month of June”, added G.P Sharma.
Other than Kerala, rain also lashed many other parts of South India on Wednesday. These were: Kurnool in Andhra – 8.7 mm of rain, Mangalore in Karnataka recorded 4.8 mm of rain. Madurai, Pamban and Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu received 15 mm, 3.1 mm and 0.7 mm of rain respectively.
Image : Photofri.
