The Hindu Business Line : Summer showers bring some solace in Kerala

VIOLENT roll of thunder accompanied by lightning on Monday evening announced the onset of summer showers in the capital city, parts of which were left "shell-soaked" at the end of a robust spell that held for up to half-an-hour.

The classical "would it, won't it" predicament associated with tropical weather phenomenon gave way to anxious "did it" queries as the typically localised spells left footprints of soaked and scorched earth that alternated within a few hundred metres of each other in the city.

Summer rains are largely attributed to cumulonimbus clouds known to produce scattered showers, some locally heavy, with the possibility of damaging winds, hail, and even tornadoes.

Cumulonimbus clouds are thunderstorm clouds that are generated from the sustained and vertical growth of "cumulus congestus" clouds. Their dark bases may be no more than 300 m (1000 ft) above the earth's surface and their tops may extend upward to over 12,000 m (39,000 ft).

Tremendous amounts of energy are released by the condensation of water vapour within a cumulonimbus. The cloud formation is also associated with lightning and thunder, which is evidently in show so far, as the season sets to a start this summer.

Summer rains more or less kept date with the mid-March onset in the State, with several places reporting varied spells during the last few days. In the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Tuesday, Thiruvananthapuram city recorded 0.8 mm of rain in a hurried spell, but neighbouring Kollam had a much more productive session of 2 cm and Punalur, 1 cm.

The Met Department has forecast more rain and thundershowers in isolated places across the State during the next 24-hour period as well.

The season has had a curtain-raiser session earlier with parts of central Kerala receiving sustained rain during the four days ending on Sunday.

Cherthala in Alappuzha recorded 5.0 mm of rain on March 12, while two days later, Kanjirappally (Kottayam) and Thodupuzha (Idukki) came under an hour-long spell of thunder, lightning and gale recording 24.6 mm and 23.0 m of rain respectively.

Kochi Airport recorded 8.4 mm of rain on the same day. Cherthala had recorded 0.9 mm of rain on March 10 as well.

The recorded rain has not been sufficient enough to make any impression on the availability drinking water supplies, not to mention irrigation water, in the worst drought-affected areas in the State.

The purely localised nature and spontaneity of the seasonal showers also do not afford the luxury of any dependable forecast. But weather watchers are hoping that the season would not ditch the State this time round, drawing comfort from the fact that summer precipitation has shown a cumulatively rising trend during the last three years in a row.

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