Tag: weather

First frost

Finally!

It has been an incredibly warm fall – with temperatures hitting the 80s(!) in September and often in the 70s in October. Historically, local gardeners could never count on frost-free weather after Labor Day (first weekend in September)… though in recent years it was not uncommon to make it through September without a frost. This year, as recently as Saturday (75ºF and sunny) it was looking like we might get through October, too, without a frost.

Today, the last day of October – Halloween! – the first frost finally arrived, applying a crisp coating to the yard and the fallen leaves.

Below are plots of temperature in our garden, at head height, over the past week and over the past month.

For those not from around here, these are crazy warm temps for October!

Weather

We arrived during the monsoon season, which in Bangalore means that it rains every day, usually as a brief downpour in the afternoon, but sometimes as a drenching rain overnight.

It’s impossible to characterize the weather of India, which is a huge subcontinent with ecosystems that range from the tropics to the Himalayas.  Bangalore is at 3000’ above sea level, so it is considerably cooler than most of south India; we arrived during the cool part of the year, aka the monsoon season.  Lots of rain, and as a result the IISc campus is awash in greenery.

During the week we have been here the weather has been extremely pleasant, highs in the 70s and lows in the 60s.  It is humid, of course, because it rains every day.  (Well, almost every day: yesterday was the first day it did not rain at all.)  It is usually cloudy, or overcast, and strong sunlight is rare.  This afternoon, when it was sunny, was the first time it seemed somewhat hot.

Of course, come March and April it does get hot here, with highs in the 90s.  Although we have no A/C in the office or apartment, we have numerous ceiling fans and many windows.

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