The city saw a sizzler of a day as the temperature at the Meenambakkam weather station touched 42.7 degrees Celsius and the one at Nungambakkam recorded 41.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, making it the hottest day of this summer so far.
The deviation from normal temperature was 4.4 degrees Celsius in Nungambakkam and 4.3 degrees Celsius at Meenambakkam. Minimum temperatures recorded at 8.30 a.m. at Meenabakkam was 29.4 degrees Celsius and 30.2 degrees Celsius at Nungambakkam.
Many places across Tamil Nadu, including Vellore (42.2 degrees Celsius), Tiruttani (41.8 degrees Celsius), Karur Paramathi (41.5 degrees Celsius), Cuddalore (40 degrees Celsius), Madurai airport (40.8 degrees Celsius) and Parangipettai (40.7 degrees Celsius), experienced high temperatures.
According to the Regional Meteorological Office in the city, the maximum temperature is likely to be 2-4 degrees Celsius above normal at isolated pockets over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal areas till Thursday. Due to humid air and high temperatures, uncomfortable weather is very likely to continue over the next few days.
P. Senthamarai Kannan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said the impact of the hot surface winds from the north was higher in the northern districts. “This is because we are closer to Andhra Pradesh and latitude-wise too, the temperature is higher as we go up. Minimum temperatures have also gone up over the last few days,” he said.
On Tuesday, the sea breeze, which helps bring down temperatures, also set in very late. “Due to urbanisation and increase in height of buildings, air flow is blocked. It takes four to five hours for the sea breeze to reach places as far away from the coast as Meenambakkam,” Mr. Kannan added.
