July will end on a pleasant note and Chennai may look forward to a cool beginning to August.
While pleasant weather may continue for a few more days as the city will continue to have overcast skies, the chances of showers are slim, note meteorologists.
On Saturday, the maximum temperature in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam was 32.8 degrees Celsius and 33.2 degrees Celsius respectively, which is nearly two degrees Celsius less than normal. Some parts of the city had brief showers on Saturday evening.
Interior parts of the State, including Tiruchi, Vellore and Madurai, stand a better chance of thunderstorms till Monday due to convective activity. S. Balachandran, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said only a few weather stations such as Ramanathapuram and Sattur in Virudhunagar district, received 5 cm and 2 cm rain respectively during the past 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The change in wind direction from westerly to easterly and wind speed has led to the cloudy weather. This may also bring isolated rainfall to some parts of the State. A few districts may get even 5 cm of rainfall, he said.
There is no well-defined weather system to sustain rainfall over the city. But, the day temperature will remain close to normal for a few more days. “We are expecting a low-pressure area to form over the northwest Bay of Bengal, near Kolkata. Though it may not bring much showers to Tamil Nadu, it may have some impact on the temperature,” he added.
Officials of the Meteorological Department said dry weather may prevail after two days over most parts of the State for a week.
Chennai has received 183.7 mm of rainfall, which is excess by 13 mm so far this season, since June 1. Similarly, Meenambakkam too has registered 190.3 mm of rainfall during this southwest monsoon.
Y.E.A. Raj, former deputy director general of Meteorology, Chennai, said that July was one of the most uncomfortable months last year as the day temperature peaked beyond 40 degrees Celsius on eight days.
