Chennai has been in the tight grip of blistering heat for nearly a week and the heatwave is likely to persist, making travel during the day uncomfortable for city residents.
For the sixth consecutive day, Chennai’s day temperature crossed 40 degree Celsius on Friday. The city sizzled at 41.1 degree Celsius and the day temperature remained at 40 degree Celsius well after 2 p.m., as the sea breeze set in late.
Met officials said strong westerly winds led to such a spike in temperature. There may be a respite, as the Meteorological Department has forecast a possibility of thunderstorm over the city on Saturday.
N. Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said Cyclone Vayu had changed the wind pattern in the region. It would take another two or three days for wind pattern favourable for thunderstorm activity to establish in the entire Tamil Nadu region.
Chennai may get light rains on Saturday. Dry westerlies continue to be strong as monsoon rainfall activity has not begun in Kerala. There may be an increase in thunderstorms after the weekend. The Meteorological Department has forecast partly cloudy sky and the maximum temperature will be around 41 degree Celsius during the weekend.
WMO recognition
Chennai’s two weather stations in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam have been recognised as long-term observing stations by the World Meteorological Organisation.
S. Balachandran, deputy director general of Meteorology, Chennai, said the city’s stations were among the five chosen from the country that had made weather observations for more than 100 years. This is a recognition for maintaining 100 years of data that could be used as vital records to assess climate variability and understand changes in the climate system, he said.
