Mercury shoots up, Bengaluru sweats

Bengaluru: It’s uncomfortably hot, complain Bengalureans. “These days it’s really tiring going to the gym and then travelling to work because of the intense heat,” says Vinod Kumar, who works at an MNC in Whitefield.

The city is perspiring intensely, trying to cool itself down as it struggles to go about its daily routines under high temperatures in the scorching sun.

With Monday recording a temperature of 34.6C, the city finds itself amid sizzling summer conditions under a blazing February sun in the third week of February.

“It’s so hot!” “Has summer arrived already?”  These seem to be the questions and comments from every household in Bengaluru.

“February is the trans-seasonal month, with winter coming to an end, so as we reach the end of the month,  temperatures will be high. It is also the pre-monsoon month, so an increase in temperature was expected,” explains B Puttana, former director, IMD, Bangalore, who explained to us that the city’s clear skies are also playing a key role in increasing the temperatures .

“With no clouds to obstruct solar radiation, the temperature will rise due to clear skies”.

According to the weather department officials, the winter season lasts up to February 29.

“During the transition from winter to summer, there is a sudden increase in temperature and generally during this time on an average there is a two-degree increase; there might be day-to-day variation,” says Puttana.

However, there is good news for city dwellers. The crackling heat won't hit the 40 degree mark.

Experts agree that the temperature in the city will not reach the forty degree mark. “The highest temperature recorded in Bengaluru was 38.9 degrees in 1931, but it would most certainly not reach the 40 degree celsius mark. The temperature will rise gradually over a length of several days, but it won’t even hit the 38 degree mark. The highest temperature recorded was 37.6 degree celsius in the last 15 years.”

According to weather department officials, over the next forty-eight hours, the occurrence of mist is very likely in some areas, at dawn accompanied by clear skies later.

Also, the maximum and minimum temperatures are very likely to be around 34 and 20 degrees C respectively. "The temperature will remain the same for the next two days, but there might be a slight difference from the predicted temperature. The city can expect dry heat,” says, a met department official.