Mercury nosedives as Friday evening showers hit the city

Right from the morning, the mercury level was climbing up, crossing 39 degrees Celsius a little past noon. That is when the rain-bearing clouds made an entry in the city skyline. What began as a drizzle soon turned into rain accompanied by strong winds blowing from all directions. Areas like Anna Nagar, Kilpauk, Egmore, Central railway station and south Chennai received heavy rain, which lasted for about an hour. 

Some sections of the arterial roads like Poonamallee High Road and Anna Salai became water-logged, resulting in traffic jam for a while. 

“The intensity of heat in the morning led to the formation of clouds and rain. Such rain activity will continue for next two days,” Dr S Balachandran, director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre here, told DTNext. According to local weather forecast, the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy. Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur in some areas during evening or night. 

Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 38 and 29 degrees Celsius respectively in the next two days, he said, adding that heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Western Ghat areas of The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul and Tirunelveli districts. 

Weather bloggers added that there was a high possibility for thunderstorms to show up over Chennai in the next two days. K Srikanth, a city-based weather blogger, said,  “The thunderstorm activity may continue for next one week. At the same time, temperature will also rise.”