CHENNAI: Maybe this is winter, after all? For the past few days, the city and peripheral areas have seen a considerable dip in minimum temperatures. On Sunday, the minimum temperature recorded in Meenambakkam was 18.7 degree Celsius, which is 2.4 degrees less than normal.
In Nungambakkam, the temperature was 21.4 degrees, less by 0.2 degree than normal. In other suburban areas like Avadi, the drop in mercury levels during the late night and early morning hours has sent a shiver down the spines of quite a few.
When contacted, S Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said the chillness could be attributed to the dry winds from the north. “Northerly winds have been blowing from the regions north of
Tamil Nadu. These regions are already cold as winter has set in,” he said. This chilly condition is expected to continue. In its weather bulletin, the Meteorological Department has stated that minimum temperature is likely to be appreciably below normal by 2-4 degree
Celsius at a few places over north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next two nights. The forecast in Chennai, in particular, is that the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy with maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 31 and 20 deg Celsius respectively.
Commenting on the possibility of rain, Balachandran, said rainfall is likely in south coastal districts of the state around December 27-28. “There is a trough of low pressure at mean sea level over southeast Bay of Bengal, which we are monitoring. As a consequence, there is a chance of rainfall in coastal districts,” he said.