CHENNAI: After the sweltering heat consistently touching 40 degrees Celsius, Chennai experienced the lowest temperature this summer on Wednesday, recording 33.6 C, thanks to a cloudy weather and rain around. This is a significant drop of nearly seven degrees compared to Tuesday.
Nungambakkam station recorded 33.6 C and Meenambakkkam 33.2 C, which are 3.9 C and 4.7 C below normal. Though, the city did not receive any rain, the dense cloud over the Bay and rainfall in the neighboring districts gave it a pleasant weather.
Chennai met office has predicted that the temperature will remain below normal for two more days before mercury starts climbing again. K Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, told Express that the average rainfall for June for Chennai is only 5 cm.
“We may not receive much rainfall, except for a few isolated showers. But the good news is the catchment areas of Mettur and a few other reservoirs are receiving good rainfall as Southwest monsoon is progressing and covered the entire State. This doesn’t mean torrential rains are expected. The districts close to Western Ghats would get more rains than interior parts,” he said. Yea Raj, former Deputy Director of meteorology, said the temperature drop was primarily due to the clouds.
The source of heating i.e. solar radiation has been cut-off keeping the land cool. All northern districts have witnessed significant drop in temperature. Vellore and Dharmapuri recorded just over 31 degree C.
“The satellite images are showing good clouding over entire delta region, which augurs well. This was the much needed relief for the State, which was reeling under severe heat, although it is only a temporary one. The temperature would rise to normal level in a day or two,” he said.