Heavy rainfall battered several districts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, and parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday morning as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert across multiple regions.
The prevailing wet spell over the southern coastal states is being driven by a well-marked low-pressure area over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.
Bengaluru witnessed moderate to heavy pre-monsoon showers on Sunday. The IMD said the city is likely to experience partly to generally cloudy skies along with spells of rain and thunderstorms, with most weather activity expected during the late afternoon and evening hours.
The weather office has placed Bengaluru under a yellow alert for the next three days, forecasting continued cloudy conditions and a high probability of rainfall in the Silicon City.
Several Karnataka districts, including Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, have been put on high alert for heavy rain and thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds of 40–50 kmph.
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for districts such as Raichur, Yadgir, Koppal and Bagalkot, where thunderstorms and gusty winds are expected to continue through Sunday before easing from Monday onward.
In coastal Karnataka, districts including Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall and thundershowers over the next few days.
Tamil Nadu braces for more rain
Heavy showers have continued to lash several districts of Tamil Nadu, including Tiruchirappalli city, since Saturday. According to the Regional Meteorological Department in Chennai, at least five districts in the state are likely to witness heavy rainfall on Sunday.
The Chennai Meteorological Department said Chennai and several other parts of the state are expected to witness generally cloudy skies with moderate rain or thunderstorms accompanied by lightning.
The Met Department added that heavy rainfall is likely to persist over the next three days as the low-pressure area remains active over the southwest Bay of Bengal.
Districts including Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Coimbatore and Nilgiri are expected to receive heavy rain on Sunday and Monday.
Karur, Tiruchirapalli and Sivaganga districts are also likely to witness heavy rainfall on May 18, accompanied by winds reaching speeds of up to 40 kmph.
Monsoon advances further
On Saturday, the IMD said the southwest monsoon had advanced into parts of the southeast Arabian Sea, southwest and southeast Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, the entire Nicobar Islands and parts of the Andaman Islands, including Sri Vijaya Puram.
The weather department said conditions remain favourable for the monsoon to advance further into more parts of the southeast Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal over the next three to four days.
Earlier this week, the IMD said the southwest monsoon is expected to arrive early over Kerala on May 26. The monsoon typically reaches Kerala around June 1, marking the beginning of the southwest monsoon season that lasts until September.
However, the IMD has also projected below-normal rainfall for India during this year’s monsoon season, citing the possible emergence of El Niño conditions, which are generally associated with reduced rainfall across the country.
