The Weather of Bangalore

Every city has an unique weather pattern; In my view point temperature, aridity, rain and winds dictate the weather of any place or city. Some time back while walking through Singapore I was suddenly caught in a bout of rain and it rained for more than two hours and I had to walk in the rain all the way through bencoleen street. For some reason stretch of land near the sea experience such sudden bouts of rain.

If we study Bangalore and its location it is mid-way between the Arabian and Bay of Bengal seas and is around 3000 ft above sea level. Ooty is another place proclaimed for its weather and this place is some 6000ft above sea level and is a special peak on the western ghat ranges and the temperature touches to a very low degree in ooty. Bangalore must be some 1000km from the Indian ocean and note that the city is on the Deccan Plateau.

Generally to my observation unlike the coasts the city of Bangalore receives a jolt of intense rainfall  the kind of rainfall seen at least in the western coast only for about a week in the months of June or July. The rainy season of Bangalore stretches from June to October. Rains during this time is generally moderate barring for a few occasions sometimes stretching all day. It used to rain in the summer months especially in the evenings once upon a time but such rains have become scarce of-late.

One of the characteristics of Bangalore is a limited summer generally stretching for three months between the months of March and May where the mean temperature would be above say 20 degree Celsius and the mean temperature falling below this limit in non-summer months. Summers of Bangalore are not very arid as in many cities that add to the summer heat ..the aridity largely absorbed by the vegetation and water bodies of the city.

What make Bangalore as a city is the largely protracted winter in my view point starting well in September and stretching into the end of February a full six months or more which is at least half the year. There are few cities in the world to my opinion that shows a predominant winter. In the western coasts of India it is a predominant rainy season caused by the monsoons and people prepare for it. Winter of Bangalore is not extreme but mild in many ways but nevertheless cold because of winds and temperatures touching upto 10 degree Celsius  on the lower side and about 20 degree Celsius on the higher side.

I read with dismay deaths due to extreme cold in cities like Delhi and it is a matter of Governance of the country that some form of warm set-ups be created for the public to thwart the cold and some public policy be created for the same.

Many different people would have differing views about the weather of the city but the matter written above would be adequate for any individual curious about the weather cycles of the city. At the most all any one need to have handy is a couple of sweaters as warm wear with socks and a rain coat of some kind and they would suffice to counter any weather condition of the city at any point in time.

One more point to note is that one cn safely say Bangalore gets much of its rains in the evening between 4:30 and 8:30 and is a peak hour with people returning home from their offices and the roads of the city are a picture of chaos with traffic jams with water rushing into the drains and water pools at many spots all pointing towards a discouraging and uncertain environment. I believe this situation needs management and monitoring and action.The focus must be to reduce the traffic on the roads and the populace. A weather office could forewarn of an impending down pour and the offices could foreclose for the day say at 2:00pm itself and employees return home much before the onslaught of the rains and the work compensated on some other day.Such kind of a forecasting system in my view is a must and must be implemented with the consent of the various agencies.