CHENNAI: A day before the scheduled onset of Southwest monsoon in Kerala, the temperature in the city soared to 41.6 degrees Celsius before dark clouds covered the sky and cooled Chennai.
The sea breeze on Monday set in only at 4.30 pm and the strong westerly winds triggered a heat wave-like condition. Monday was the second hottest day for Chennaiites this summer after May 18’s 42.6 C sizzler, which was a three-year high.
K Balachandran, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said the high temperature would continue for a couple of days due to westerly winds. “This usually happens when around the onset of monsoon. Present meteorological conditions indicate that conditions are favourable for the onset of Southwest monsoon over Kerala on Tuesday,” he said.
On the possibility of Chennai receiving rainfall, he said there would be no significant rain activity in the city, but the suburbs may get convective rainfall. “A few areas in the city and suburbs like Red Hills did experience mild showers and thunderstorm activity on Monday, which would possibly be the norm this week,” he said.
The IMD’s forecast till June 4 also suggests that the day time temperature would be on the higher side hovering around 40 C and there would be some rainfall activity in the evening.
The Southwest monsoon is likely to advance into some parts of Tamil Nadu, though the State is considered a rain shadow region. As it lies on the eastern side of Western Ghats, only a few pockets get rainfall during the Southwest monsoon.
Y E A Raj, former deputy director general of meteorology, said cyclonic storm Mora over Bay of Bengal will delay the arrival of sea breeze in Chennai. The cyclonic storm will suck-up moisture and boost the monsoon inflow. “But for us on the east coast, it will trigger dry conditions and the delay in sea breeze will keep the temperature at least a few degrees above normal. Chennai has witnessed over 40 C for longer than usual this summer,” he said and added that if there is clouding, which is a possibility, it will offer some respite.
According to IMD’s update on Monday evening, Mora is likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday early morning and is likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Bangladesh coast near Chittagong around Tuesday forenoon.