Now temperatures in the city will start rising again and hot and humid conditions are expected to prevail over the region. Residents of Chennai should gear up to face uneasy conditions in coming days. This dry spell is a result of the depression which has formed over west-central Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast. Now winds with high moisture concentration and rain will be confined to Odisha, Telangana, and Central India. This will lead to dry conditions in Chennai and entire Tamil Nadu.
Generally during Southwest Monsoon, Chennai on an average, receives 55.9 mm rainfall in the month of June. It must be noted that last year, in the month of June, Chennai received 96.2 mm rainfall. But this year, the city has received only 20.5 mm rainfall in the month of June so far. Moreover, the Skymet Meteorology Division in India does not foresee any significant weather activity over Chennai for at least another week.
This means that this year, at the most, Chennai will reach the halfway mark of its monthly average rainfall for the month of June. It must be noted that during Southwest Monsoon, Tamil Nadu remains a rain shadow area as it falls on the leeward side. Most of the moisture gets depleted over Kerala and relatively drier winds reach Tamil Nadu leading to subdued rainfall activity in the region. But during Northeast Monsoon, Tamil Nadu and Chennai in particular, receive 70% of its annual rainfall.
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