Bengaluru breaks 10-year record as mercury dips to 11.1 degrees Celsius

Bengaluru: If you felt that it was bone-chilling cold on Wednesday morning, you were right. The city recorded 11.1 degrees Celsius, which is a 10-year record, early on Wednesday morning at the weather observatory at the Kempegowda International Airport. The steep dip in the temperature is because of the cold winds blowing from Northern India, weathermen said.

The lowest was The earlier lowest temperature recorded in the city in the last 10 years was 12.1 degree Celsius, said Mr S.S.M. Gavaskar, a scientist with the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre.

He said, "The minimum temperatures in the city and other districts have dipped over the last three days. The residents of Yeshwanthpur, Yelahanka, Devanahalli and Hessarghatta have been shivering as these areas have a lot of open spaces and green cover. Cold waves from North India have created such cold conditions in many states, including Karnataka."

He said, "January is the peak winter season for the state, with the minimum temperatures ranging between 9 and 12 degrees Celsius. KSNDMC monitors the weather in the city with its 12 monitoring centres for the last five years. We do not have enough data for comparison and have to rely on the IMD data for comparing the previous records of the city. As per the data available from the IMD, the city recorded its lowest temperature in 1884 at 7.6 degrees Celsius and the lowest in the last 10 years was 12.1 degrees for the city. But on Wednesday, that record was broken," Mr Gavaskar explained.

In districts like Bidar, Kalburgi and those adjoining Maharashtra and Telangana, temperatures have fallen below 10 degrees Celsius.

As per present forecast, cold conditions will last for another 2-3 days and then ease out. Day temperatures will be normal with clear skies and bright sunlight.