In an announcement that would bring no relief for the people of Chennai and its surrounding districts, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the heat wave in parts of the state will continue till Thursday.
A bulletin released by the IMD on Wednesday issued a heat wave warning to isolated areas in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Salem, Karur, Dindigul, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Erode and Tiruppur districts. It also stated that the maximum temperatures in these areas is likely to be 3 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal.
The Met department said that the maximum and minimum temperatures in Chennai city and its surrounding areas on Thursday would be around 36 and 26 degrees Celsius. The temperature is likely to dip on Friday.
As of Thursday morning, Chennai’s Nungambakkam recorded 35.3 degrees Celsius and Chennai Airport recorded 37 degrees Celsius. Vellore sizzled at 40.6 degrees Celsius followed by Thiruttani (40.5), Dharmapuri (40.2), Karur (39.8), Madurai (39.7), Trichy (39.6), Salem (39.5) and Thanjavur (39.5). In contrast to the frost that engulfed Tamil Nadu’s hill stations last month, when the temperatures even touched the sub-zero levels, Kodaikanal recorded 21.8 degree Celsius, Uthagamandalam (Ooty) recorded 23.6 degree Celsius and Valparai touched 29 degree Celsius on Thursday morning.
According to weather blogger Pradeep John, who goes by the name of Tamil Nadu Weatherman, a place is said to be experiencing ‘heat wave’ if the temperature deviates 5-6 degree Celsius from normal. In a Facebook post, he said that the interior districts of Tamil Nadu will definitely record mercury levels touching 40 degrees Celsius in the coming days, he ruled this possibility out for Chennai and added that the city will record its hottest day even without touching 40 degrees Celsius.