Chennai: On Day 1 of Agni Nakshatram, interior Tamil Nadu sizzled on relatively high humidity coupled with 40 plus degree Celsius temperature. But Chennai and southern Tamil Nadu experienced comparatively lower temperature due to the onset of sea breeze at Coramandal coastal front and isolated rainfall over Madurai, Rajapalayam, Kanyakumarai and Virudhunagar. Tituttani and Tiruchi recorded Wednesday’s maximum at 40.5 degree C while Vellore was at 40.2 degree C.
Though day temperatures in Chennai did not spike this time, weather enthusiasts predict warmer nights ahead due to cloudy condition. Director of Regional Meteorological Centre S. Balachandran said that districts close to Western Ghats region including Salem, Madurai and Coimbatore also received isolated rains on Wednesday evening.
Weather bloggers in Chennai said southern pockets recorded more than 15 mm rainfall on the first day of Agni Nakshatram, an unusual phenomenon during dog days.
Attributing the reason for the rainfall to the abrupt change in wind direction between easterlies and westerlies in the interior regions, weather blogger Pradeep John said the trend is expected to continue for a week.
Reasoning the decrease in city’s temperature, John said, “Prevalence of Westerlies in Chennai is weak enabling sea breeze to penetrate in the early morning hours.”
