More stormy weather: Orange alert in Bengaluru

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Indian Meteorological Department has declared an orange alert in Bengaluru Urban, Rural and various parts of Karnataka on Thursday. Until then, cloudy skies, rainfall and thundershowers are in for the city over the next few days. While the average maximum temperature is a comfortable 27 degrees, it is likely to dip to a minimum average of 19 degrees Celsius.

Saturday saw moderate to heavy rainfall across Bengaluru. The city observatory recorded a maximum of 19 mm of rain, the Kempegowda International Airport area received 10.4 mm and HAL saw 15.6 mm. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression over the central Bay of Bengal is likely to cross the Tamil Nadu coast, as well as the adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coast on Thursday.

This may result in rainfall in parts of Karnataka. Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Kolar and Tumkur districts have all been put on orange alert. A yellow alert has been declared in Ballari, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamag aluru, Davanagere, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara and Shimoga districts.

Dr Geeta Agnihotri, Director-in-Charge, IMD Bengaluru said, “The IMD is expecting widespread rain over the south interior districts of Karnataka. Isolated spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall are especially likely in the eastern districts of south Karnataka like Chitradurga, Tumkuru and Kolar.”

The chilly weather in the city will continue for the next few days, Dr Agnihotri cautioned. “Moreover, heavy rainfall can be expected in the state capital until Monday. The sky will remain cloudy due to the depression over the Bay of Bengal. This system will take time to dissipate, so the cold weather will remain too,” she said.

Persistent rains led to waterlogging in several localities in Bengaluru, with reports of power outages.