KOCHI: Kerala is passing through another phase of chill weather, after the ebb for a week, with plains experiencing the impact most. According to meteorologists, the influence of a low pressure being formed over the equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal region, in addition to the already existing southward intrusion of polar cold air over our region in this winter, is leading to this chill.
“Under the influence of the low pressure, the sky over the state is partially covered by clouds, and it blocks the solar radiation that, otherwise, is expected to reach the Earth’s surface. Due to this low pressure-linked cloudiness, there is a corresponding decrease in day-time maximum temperature by 1.5 – 2 °C, making it sublime clime during daytime while in the mornings and night it could be chill. This is also reflected proportionately in the minimum temperatures,” said Dr Manoj M.G., a research scientist with Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research (ACARR), Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat).
He said that the phenomenon is expected to continue for a couple of days till the influence of low pressure subsides. “In Kerala, Punalur recorded a minimum temperature of 15.5 °C, while Cochin international airport recorded 17 °C on Monday. There is a marked decrease in minimum temperatures at many stations across the state,” he added. Meanwhile, the hilly Munnar region has not witnessed the corresponding severity, though the temperature touched -1 degree Celsius on Saturday. According to an official of the Kannan Devan Hill Produce Company, a plantation major of Munnar, the minimum temperature recorded on Sunday and Monday hovered around zero and one degree Celsius respectively. “The days are sunny and without cloud formation here now,” he said over the phone on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), however, does not have the facility to monitor the temperature in most parts of the state, while it has facilities or tie-ups to measure rainfall. As against 12 stations to measure temperature, it has 68 stations to measure rainfall. The temperature of Munnar is also not recorded by IMD.
