Chennai, on Saturday afternoon, joined the league of cities like Hyderabad that have crossed 40 degrees Celsius this summer, and the milestone has been reached earlier than usual.
According to S Balachandran, Director of Regional Meteorological Centre of the India Meteorological Department, today’s temperature has gone above the normal average temperature for this time of the year.
In 2014 April, the mercury levels were recorded at 40.2 degrees, and in 2010, it was 40.5 degrees.
“The main reason in the rise in temperature is because intense western dry winds are blowing in our region. And due to this, the temperatures are expected to go up by 2-3 degrees for the next three days,” said Balachandran. The humidity factor also adds to the spike in average temperatures, he said.
As per the data on the IMD website, 42.1 degrees in 2006 is the highest maximum temperature recorded in the past 10 years.
Various states across the country have been witnessing an extremely harsh summer, with temperatures going well above 40 degrees.
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