A few days of respite ahead

Anyone new to Chennai could have mistaken Monday’s weather for that of a monsoon day.

On a peak summer day, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 31 degree Celsius.

Residents woke up to a rain-soaked Monday as a low pressure area over the Comorin region and its neighbourhood influenced the city’s weather.

Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam received 1 cm of rain during the 24 hours till Monday morning. However, it only drizzled in several localities.

On Monday, the weather observatory in Meenambakkam registered 31.8 degree Celsius, seven degrees Celsius lower than the average temperature.

Residents still experienced sultry weather though, because of the high humidity level.

Officials of the meteorological department said Chennai is likely to experience cool weather and light rains for two or three more days and the murky sky is here to stay for a few more days.

S.R. Ramanan, director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre, said: “It is not unusual for such rainfall during May. We had cyclone Laila in May 2010.”

The low pressure area will bring rains in many places of south Tamil Nadu and scattered rains in the northern parts. Chennai will have rains or thundershowers in some areas and the maximum temperature will be around 31 degree Celsius till Wednesday, he added.