Dry weather to heat up Chennai till end of March

CHENNAI: Hot and dry weather is likely to prevail in Chennai till the end of March, the Regional Meteorological Centre forecasted on Sunday.

After an overnight spell of heavy rain last week, Chennai is set to experience hot and dry conditions until the end of March. Temperatures are expected to rise by 2 to 3°C across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal.

However, ghat regions are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall next week, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre.

The RMC said a trough extends from the Gulf of Mannar to north interior Karnataka, passing across Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka at about 0.9 km above mean sea level.

Under its influence, light rain is likely at isolated places over Coimbatore and the Nilgiris districts. Dry weather is expected to prevail over the rest of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal till March 24.

The weather bulletin noted that dry conditions will continue on March 25 and 26 across the region. In Chennai, the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 35°C, while the minimum temperature may drop to 25°C on Monday. By March 28, the maximum temperature in the city may rise to 38°C.

On Sunday, Karur Paramathi recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state at 38.5°C. Madurai recorded the lowest minimum temperature among the plains at 23°C.