Meteorologists’ predictions of summer rain are bringing solace to the people even when temperature during the day has been steadily increasing in the State. The marking of 39° C in February has raised concerns though.
Although mercury had touched 39°C around this time last year also, the considerable dip in humidity across the State is puzzling weather experts. The average humidity recorded at the Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC) weather station at Mundur, near here, in February was between 30% and 35%. This was considerably lower than the relative humidity recorded in the last two years.
In 2021, the humidity recorded at the IRTC weather station around this time was 40%-60%. In 2022, the humidity recorded was 60-70%. The reason, according to veteran physics researcher B.M. Mustafa, was the shortage of the northeast monsoon popularly known to Keralites as ‘thulavarsham’.
“We did not get enough rain from the northeast monsoon. Therefore, the surface soil has dried up so fast and caused a fall in humidity, leading to a rise in temperature during the day,” said Prof. Mustafa.
Shrinking streams
Although nights are cool and days are becoming hotter, streams and rivulets are fast shrinking even before the summer has intensified. A.N. Sivadas, head of the Environment Laboratory, IRTC, said that the rise in temperature was not ominous because of the summer rain forecast by meteorologists.
“It’s true that temperature is increasing. We already hit 39°C in February. And it may go up to 41-42°C when summer becomes harsh. But the rain predicted for March-April is good news,” said Mr. Sivadas.
Last year, Palakkad had witnessed the highest temperature ever: 42°C. Yet, the last summer months had provided nearly 12% of the total rain recorded for the entire year.
Rainfall figures
The IRTC weather station had recorded 106 mm rain in April and 182 mm in May last year. The total summer rainfall in the last year was 314 mm. “This was considerably good as we had got only 2,900 mm rainfall for the entire year,” said Mr. Sivadas.
The government has alerted the people to reset their outdoor work time in view of the increasing day temperature. “I think people are aware of the precautions they ought to take for an extreme summer. There’s nothing to worry. But summer rains have to come as predicted by the meteorologists,” he said.
