Bengaluru, April 23 (IANS) A hour-long downpour followed by a burst of hailstorm in many areas on Thursday evening after a hot and humid day wreaked havoc across the city, leading to blackouts and traffic gridlocks.
Though the city meteorological office said the downpour was part of summer showers that occur this month almost every year, a weather official admitted the hailstorm in large quantity was unusual and unexpected.
“The city weather has been changing for good over the last two weeks due to various factors, including depression in the Bay of Bengal, formation of thick clouds and surface winds after temperatures rose up to 36 degrees Celsius in the first 10 days,” a Met Office official told IANS.
Though the forecast for the day was cloudy sky with possibility of rain or thunderstorm, the sudden downpour followed by hailstones caught the denizens of the city unawares.
After rain subsided, water-logging in several localities affected vehicular movement and power failure snapped traffic signals, leading to snarls on many thoroughfares at peak hour.
“Power supply was affected for two-three hours across the city due to outages and tripping in many sub-stations, as demand has been exceeding and supply lagging behind in peak summer,” a Bescom official admitted.