Chennai is set to continue to sizzling as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heat wave conditions in north Tamil Nadu till Tuesday.
According to a weather bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai on Sunday night, severe heat wave conditions will prevail over isolated pockets of Tiruvallur, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts in north Tamil Nadu. “Heat wave condition likely to prevail at some parts over North Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Puducherry, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Karur and Trichy districts),” the bulletin reads.
The maximum daytime temperature in Chennai is likely to hover around 41 degree Celsius for the next two days, the bulletin said. It also warned members of the public to not expose themselves to direct sunlight between 11 am and 4 pm to avoid sunstroke.
The IMD considers declaring heat wave in a region if the maximum temperature crosses 40 degree Celsius in plains and 30 degree Celsius in hill stations. The heat wave forecast in Chennai is expected to worsen the already existing water crisis.
While Vellore recorded a maximum temperature of 42.7 degree Celsius on Sunday, Thiruttani recorded 42.5 degree Celsius. Chennai Airport recorded 42 degree Celsius temperature on Sunday. Madurai, Nagapattinam and Trichy also recorded 40 degree Celsius or more on Sunday. The highest temperature recorded in Chennai in the month of June was 43.3 degree Celsius in the year 1948, according to data available with the IMD.
While northern Tamil Nadu is expected to wilt due to heat, the Met department has also forecast light to moderate showers in some regions in Tamil Nadu like Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem, Theni, Dindigul, Sivagangai, Pudukkottai and Kanyakumari districts. Kalavai in Vellore district recorded four centimetres of rainfall on Sunday, while Devala (Nilgiris), Karaikkudi (Sivagangai), Salem and Omalur (Salem) recorded two centimetres each of rainfall on Sunday. Erode’s Gobichettipalayam recorded one centimetre of rain on Sunday, according to IMD data.
Source: The News Minute