Coimbatoreans were in for a drenching delight as the rain gods opened up the skies to shower their blessings on the nearly dried up city of Coimbatore on Friday.

The city was being scorched by the sun with the mercury frequently oscillating between 36.5 degrees Celsius and 37.5 Celsius last week. The mercury touched its highest this year by reaching 37.8 degrees last week, much before official summer season set in.

The Agro Climate Research Centre at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University had predicted that the temperature could further rise to more than 38 degrees during Agninakshatram, the fiercest part of summer. The department had further predicted the climate to remain the same, with the moisture level of the soil dropping very low due to the lack of rains, which further worsened the near heatwave that was sweeping the city at nights.

The department had earlier predicted 130 mm of summer rains once the South West monsoon kicks in, which would help bring the temperature of the soil down.

The sudden heavy rain that drenched the city on Friday, brought huge smiles on the faces of the city residents, and reduced the soil temperature from last week’s 25 degrees Celsius. Usually, Coimbatore records around 22 to 23 degrees Celsius of night temperature during the nights in summer but it had, this time, gone up to 25.

Further, the rains are also expected to reduce the chances of forest fires in the Ghat region. Forest fires have already started to rage in some parts of the Western Ghats of Coimbatore, including Coonoor and Poondi.

According to S. Panneerselvam, Head and Professor of the Department of Meteorology, the rains are expected to continue till Saturday. He further added that parts of Erode and Tirupur are also expected to receive moderate drizzles for the next two days. “We expect 130 mm during the South West monsoon during the months of April and May in these areas,” he said.

Though it had drizzled in certain areas of the city including Kurichi, Sundarapuram Sidco on Thursday, parts of Samakulam, Periyanaickenpalayam, Kuniyamuthur, Kavundanpalayam, Chinniyampalayam, and Neelambur received moderate showers on Friday too.

Panneerselvam added that the quantum of rain is hard to predict as the showers are uneven and not constant.