CHENNAI: While the city has been experiencing mostly an overcast weather, making days dull and nights slightly warm, weathermen say night temperatures might drop in the coming days with a change in wind directions.
IMD has forecast dry weather to prevail over the city and the rest of the state starting Monday and private forecasters said nights might get nippy starting February 1, with cold and dry winds from the north moving over Tamil Nadu.
For the next 48 hours, IMD has forecast light rain over a few areas of the city and suburbs while the skies may remain generally cloudy. Temperatures may hover at a maximum of 30 deg C and a minimum of 25 deg C.
Light to moderate rain has also been forecast over other parts of the state, including Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukottai districts and south Tamil Nadu on Sunday. While the incoming warm and moisture-laden easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal is leading to overcast skies and occasional rain, an IMD official said, “This is due to the cyclonic circulation in the upper atmosphere over Gulf of Mannar and adjoining areas.”
The easterlies are leading to formation of clouds. This has led to day temperatures touching near normal at 29.8 deg C and 30.2 deg C in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam on Saturday while the night temperatures shot up to 24.6 deg C and 24.4 deg C respectively. IMD has forecast dry weather to prevail over the state from January 31 to February 2. Skymet chief meteorologist Mahesh Palawat said the easterlies are present as the western disturbance is absent in the north, but wind directions may change next week. A western disturbance in the north could lead to entry of cool in-land winds over Tamil Nadu. “We can expect temperatures to go down by two to three degrees around February 1,” he said.
Blogger Pradeep John said while the nippy weather may last till February 5, models show that night temperatures may even touch 18 deg C in the suburbs. “Easterlies may return after February 5 and there may be slight rise in night temperatures. Models are also showing some rains in the coastal areas in mid-February,” he said.
