CHENNAI: In an early indication of what’s in store this summer, the India Meteorological Department has issued a heat wave warning to interior districts of Tamil Nadu. Very rarely has such a warning been issued in the first week of March.
Forecast for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry suggests that heat wave conditions are likely to prevail in isolated places over interior Tamil Nadu (Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Salem, Karur, Dindigul, Erode, Tirupur and Coimbatore) till Thursday.
On Tuesday, Tiruttani station recorded 40.1 degrees Celsius, which is the highest in the State. In the next couple of days, more districts are likely to breach 40 degrees.
However, there is some dispute over issuing heat wave warning. Weathermen in Regional Meteorological Centre here say their Delhi colleagues were premature in issuing the warning. “To issue such a warning, the temperature should record 5-6 degrees above normal, which hasn’t happened yet,” they said.
Though a heat wave warning has been issued by the IMD, weathermen in the regional meteorological centre in Chennai say it could be a premature move. "To issue such a warning, the mean temperature should have gone 5-6 degrees above normal. That is not the case here. For instance, Vellore mean temperature for March is 36.1 degrees. It has to go beyond 41 degrees and stay there for it to be called a heat wave. This is unlikely to happen," an official told Express.
Noted weather blogger Pradeep John also said there is nothing to worry. "This sudden spike in temperature is due to offshore winds and increase in land breeze. This is normal and public need not panic." Also, IMD has issued temperature warning to coastal areas, including Chennai, with maximum temperature likely to record 2-3 degrees above normal. On Tuesday, Chennai suburbs were already sizzling with mercury soaring four degrees above normal.
The mean temperature for Chennai in March is 32.9 degree Celsius. However, Nungambakkam weather station recorded 35.1 degrees, while Meenambakkam station in suburb recorded this year's high of 36.8 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees above normal.