El Nino, clear skies cause Bengaluru to sweat in February as temperature remains high | Bangalore News
El Nino, clear skies cause Bengaluru to sweat in February as temperature remains high | Bangalore News
[ad_1]
As the afternoon sun has been scorching Bengaluru this month, the rise in temperature has been attributed to conditions in the Pacific Ocean, specifically the El Nino, a warming of its surface waters which has cumulative effects on weather across the globe, according to meteorologists who also point at cloudless skies. In Bengaluru, the mercury already hit 34 degrees Celsius this month on February 7.
Explaining the current phenomenon, India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist A Prasad said, “Compared to last year, the average temperature has increased. During this period, the normal peak temperature is around 30.9 degrees Celsius. But this year it was at an average of 31.7 degrees for the first seven days of the month. This is an increase of 1.2 degrees compared to last year.”
However, such temperatures are not completely new to Bengaluru. “The all-time high is 35.9 degrees Celsius, recorded in 2005 on February 17. It is unlikely to reach that level this year. In the coming days, we may also see a slight decline in the temperature by 1 to 2 degrees. The main reason is that there are clear skies along with El Nino being a factor. Last year, there was also not much rain. This is happening all over south India. We will know the outlook for March by the end of February,” Prasad said.
On the effect of El Nino in India, he said, “When the Eastern Pacific is warmer than the West, subsidence occurs over Australia and the Bay of Bengal (sinking of air due to high pressure)…causing heavy rain in South America; but Australia is deprived of monsoon. The same thing happens on the Indian coast also.
Prasad noted that it was possible that slightly higher temperatures could prevail in early summer due to the persistence of El Nino conditions.
[ad_2]
