The weather in Chennai cooled down after 17 mm of rain occurred in the city in a span of 48 hours. Rain in the capital of Tamil Nadu not only brought respite from the hot and humid weather - maximums dropped by five degrees - but also brought relief from the regular power cuts of over three hours daily.
As the skies remained generally cloudy, the maximum temperature in Chennai recorded 31.8⁰C on Monday. The city also received 3 mm of rain on the same day. However, the maximum in Chennai on Sunday settled at 35⁰C despite 14 mm of rain. Maximums dropped to settle in the higher twenties in other cities including Cuddalore (27.4⁰C), Karaikal (26.8⁰C) and Nagapattinam (27.2⁰C), where over 40 mm of rain occurred.
On the other hand, the diurnal variation or the difference between the max and min temperature, seems to have come down considerably, with minimums settling around 25⁰C in most cities,. Chennai woke up to a pleasant Tuesday morning as the minimum recorded 25.2⁰C ( two degrees below the normal average).
People hit the beaches on Sunday as light rain was reported in the areas across North, South and Central Chennai, including Vysarpadi, Chepauk, Mylapore, Guindy, Ambattur and Avadi.
Experts claim that reduction in the use of air conditioners and agricultural pump sets has brought down the demand for power considerably over the last two days. The quantum of load shedding has come down from 16.38 MU on May 3 to 0.223 MU the next day.
“We reiterate, rain is likely to continue in many parts of South India, including Kerela, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the last 24 hours, pockets of Tamil Nadu recorded around 50 mm of rain. Moderate to heavy rain in Tamil Nadu, for the next three days will be restricted to one or two pockets only. According to the latest weather update, rain will continue in Chennai, but it might not be of significant amounts”, said G.P Sharma of Skymet Meteorology Division in India.
Some might be surprised that the normal rainfall figure for Chennai for the month of May is 44 mm. Weathermen tell us though the number of rainy days are only one to two in Chennai, these are generally moderate or heavy in nature. Just a day or two of good showers can easily cover up these figures.
Last year, Chennai had received only 4.1 mm of rain in the month of May and 3.1 mm of rain in the month of April. And this year the month of April went completely dry in Chennai.
Photo by Shalusharma.
