CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai on Tuesday issued a heatwave warning for isolated parts of interior Tamil Nadu, at least till Friday, while several stations, including Madurai and the hill towns of Ooty, Coonoor and Kodaikanal, registered their highest temperatures for July.
With the revival of southwest monsoon activity showing no signs of materialising not at least until the end of the month, the state is bracing for a prolonged spell of hot and humid weather.
Madurai airport station emerged as the hottest location in the country, recording 42.5°C, which is 5.5°C above normal. “Usually, we see highest temperatures getting recorded in north India or Rayalaseema or Telangana, but on Tuesday Madurai AP station bore the brunt of the peak heatwave conditions.
Madurai, Virudhanagar and Dindigul districts will continue to experience heat wave conditions at least till Friday. During this weekend, weather models are picking up light rainfall activity, which would bring some relief from the extreme heat,” VR Durai, head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, told TNIE.
The heat has also gripped hill stations. Udhagamandalam recorded 24.8°C on Tuesday, 7.4°C above normal and higher than its previous record of 24.4°C set just two days ago on July 12. Coonoor touched 26.9°C, nearly 5°C above normal, surpassing its previous July record of 26.5°C recorded on July 12 last year.
Kodaikanal, meanwhile, registered 24.2°C, 6.3°C above normal, breaking its record of 23.9°C set on July 2, 1988. Madurai airport also rewrote its temperature history by surpassing its previous highest recorded on July 27, 2017. Chennai recorded 39.4°C at Meenambakkam and 39°C at Nungambakkam on Tuesday.