While Delhi and North India continues to be cool with maximums in the lower thirties, the weather in South India has started to heat up and Chennai is currently one of the hottest cities in India with maximum temperature settling at 40⁰C (four degrees above normal) on Wednesday.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Chennai may witness little or no relief from the intense heat for the next few days. However, chances of rain next week could once again pull down the maximums.
Day temperature in Chennai started to rise and settle around 37⁰C from the 11th of May when the weather turned dry. Prior to that, Chennai remained cool with maximums between 33⁰C and 35⁰C due to continuous pre-monsoon rain showers from the 4th till the 10th of May.
A prolonged rain activity in Chennai and the entire state of Tamil Nadu was observed due to the low pressure system which developed near Sri Lanka. Chennai in a span of one week recorded 42.6 mm of rain as opposed to the normal rainfall figure of 43.9 mm.
“With rain expected to pick up next week in South India, the weather in Chennai is likely to become rainy, ”, says G.P Sharma of Skymet Meteorology Division in India. “And if that happens, Chennai will easily record excess rainfall this summer. Maximums will drop and humidity could come down quite a bit”, he added.
Currently lack of sea breeze and a flow of flat land winds (southerly-southwesterly) is heating up Chennai. The humidity levels are ranging between 60 to 70% and the minimum temperature is one of the warmest in India.
On Thursday morning, the minimum temperature recorded in Chennai was 28.5⁰C, while the maximum is expected to sustain around 40⁰C. In the next 48 hours, day temperature in Chennai could possibly touch 41⁰C. Last year, Chennai had seen the day’s maximum settle close to 43⁰C in the last week of May.
Photo by chennaiinfolife.
