Yesterday saw a relatively weak day of thunderstorms in Peninsular India though there was noticeable activity around Krishnagiri, Madurai, Theni districts. Parts of South Karnataka in particular the adjoining areas of Northwest Interior Tamil Nadu saw some of the thunderstorms move from East to West to give moderate rains to areas like Mandya etc.
So far Summer 2018 has been a subdued affair for Chennai with the IMD Observatory at Meenambakkam still to touch 40°C while the observatory at Nungambakkam is still to touch 38°C. Relatively strong Easterlies have ensured this subdued summer conditions have been prevailing so far. With Monsoon dynamics taking shape we could possibly start seeing the Westerlies take control in the coming days. As a precursor to it models indicate weak sea breeze activity and Northwesterly winds to bring in some heat to parts of North TN including Chennai. While it may not be an extremely hot day today, we are in line to see possibly the hottest day of Summer 2018 at Chennai with a decent chance for Meenambakkam to inch closer to 40°C and Nungambakkam to possibly breach 100°F for the first time this year.
Yesterday was a day of weak thunderstorms as indicated in our opening lines of this post, more often than not the day after high intensity thunderstorms is subdued. Possibly on account of lesser atmospheric energy available after an action packed day could explain the subdued performance yesterday. Today wind charts indicate a pseudo cyclonic circulation develop over the interiors of Tamil Nadu which is likely to bring convergence along with it. The districts of Salem, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmpuri, Krishnagiri could see some high decibel action on account of this as indicated by models. Some of these thunderstorms could drift into Erode and Namakkal also bringing some rains to these places as well. Along with these interior areas Trichy, Madurai, Pudukottai, Kanchipuram & parts of Villupuram also could see isolated thunderstorms bringing some relief after what is likely to be a very hot day.