After a brief break in the summer showers, South India is set to witness more rains this week. The region, which has already witnessed 28% excess rainfall since March, is in for scattered rains and thunderstorms this week.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 30-40 kmph) over Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana for the next five days and over Andhra Pradesh on April 27 and 28.
A trough (an extended, relatively low-pressure area), associated wind discontinuity, and a cyclonic circulation prevail around the southern Peninsular region this week.
In Kerala, fairly widespread rain and thunderstorms are likely to lash on Monday, after which the intensity will reduce to scattered showers from April 26-28. Meanwhile, isolated rains are on the cards for Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during this period.
Given these inclement weather conditions, IMD has issued a yellow watch — which calls for residents to ‘be prepared’ — over Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry on April 26; Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on April 27-28; and Kerala from April 26 to 29.
Major southern cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi can expect partly cloudy skies with a few spells of rain the thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon and evening hours.
Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam in Kerala recorded nearly 50 mm rainfall over the weekend. In Karnataka, Mysuru has received above-average rainfall with overcast conditions in April, escaping the summer sizzle. According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the district received 48 mm of rainfall between April 1 and 23 against a normal of 44 mm.
Between March 1 and April 25, both Kerala (231 mm), coastal Karnataka (71 mm) and South Karnataka (83 mm) have received ‘large excess’ precipitation as compared to their receptive normals, while Tamil Nadu (77 mm) and Puducherry (52 mm) have also registered excess rainfall for the period.
On the other hand, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have faced ‘large deficient’ rainfall this pre-monsoon season so far, with less than 10 mm rainfall.
