Do you know: Chennai froze over in April 1815

It is hard to believe that Chennai, well known for its sweltering heat, once dipped below freezing temperatures over 200 years ago. But, according to Gillen D’Arcy Wood’s book Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World , this is exactly what happened, that too in the hot summer month of April. On April 10 and 11 of 1815, due to the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, the largest volcanic activity in recorded history, which killed around 12,000 people. The explosion was heard a whooping 2,000 km away and a moderatesized tsunami struck the shores of various islands in the Indonesian with an estimated death toll of 4,600. 

The ash clouds spread globally, making 1816 the ‘year without summer.’ Chennai was one of the first cities to feel the impact of these clouds, with the temperature dipping below freezing point two weeks later. While the temperature was 11 degree Celsius in the morning of April 24, it dipped to -3 degree Celsius on April 28. There were even unconfirmed reports of snow in parts of the city. 

Chennai, like many other parts of the country, went through an agricultural crisis the next year due 

to lack of monsoons. The deadly cholera epidemic that spread in the country soon after is now considered to be an after-effect of this eruption. Similar dips in temperature and epidemic outbreaks were also recorded in other parts of the world that year. Later, the first vessel from Java to reach shore, the brig Catherina arrived in Chennai in August 1815 and The Madras Courier interviewed the craft’s master, who brought with him a bag of volcanic ash, for an eyewitness description of the eruption. The ash was later sent to Kolkata for further analysis.