The last couple of days has seen Chennai swelter under summer like conditions with the day time temperature staying well above 35 degrees right through the afternoon and till sunset. Making it even more uncomfortable for most people of Chennai was the complete absence of sea breeze. Even places close to the coast did not see the impact of sea breeze with westerly winds dominating the whole day. The wind charts from the weather station at Thaiyur, a place less than 5 kms from the Coast, indicate except for a very brief spell around 10 PM the winds were W / NW for the rest of the day.
Fortunately from today we are expected to see the return of sea breeze to North Coastal Tamil Nadu. Numerical Models indicate a fairly strong sea breeze front to move in today over land bringing in a much needed respite from the uncomfortable evenings. While Moisture around South India has been fairly poor with dry conditions prevailing the onset of strong sea breeze could trigger some isolated thunderstorms in Coastal Tamil Nadu.
While the areas around Ramanathapuram could see spells of light to moderate rains from these thunderstorms there is a possibility the North Coastal Area also could see one or two places around Chennai get some thunderstorms. These thunderstorms may not be intense or widespread but could provide moderate rains in a few places.
Temperatures are expected to stay above normal today as well with Chennai expected to see day time max temperature in the region of 36 / 37 degrees. The movement of sea breeze could make it comfortable in the evening.