CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast rainfall across several districts of Tamil Nadu over the next three days, accompanied by a drop in day temperatures due to pre-monsoon showers.
According to the weather department, light to moderate rainfall, along with thunderstorms and lightning, is expected in parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal.
This is due to the presence of an upper air cyclonic circulation over South India.
Districts from Nilgiris to Tirunelveli, as well as southern areas including Madurai, Sivagangai, and Kanyakumari, may witness heavy spells in isolated areas on April 3 and 4.
On April 5, the rain activity is likely to be confined to regions closer to the Western Ghats.
On Wednesday, night temperatures dropped across many interior districts.
Karur, one of the state’s hottest regions, recorded the lowest minimum temperature at 21 degrees Celsius.
Other cool spots included Dharmapuri at 23 degrees Celsius, Tirupathur 23.2 degrees Celsius, Salem 23.3 degrees Celsius and Tiruthani 23.5 degrees Celsius.
In contrast, Chennai’s observatories at Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded slightly higher minimum temperatures of 27.3 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Despite the cooler nights, the day remained warm in some parts of the state.
Erode, which had recently seen temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius, recorded the highest maximum temperature in Tamil Nadu at 37.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
Chennai saw maximum temperatures of 34.1 degrees Celsius at Nungambakkam and 35.3 degrees Celsius at Meenambakkam — considered normal for this time of the year.
Dry weather is likely to continue in Chennai on Thursday, with partly cloudy skies.
Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 34 to 35 degrees Celsius and 26 to 27 degrees Celsius respectively.
So far, Tamil Nadu has received 14 per cent more rainfall than the seasonal average during the ongoing northeast monsoon.
The state recorded 447 mm of rainfall, surpassing the seasonal norm of 393 mm.
Chennai received 845 mm which is 16 per cent above the average, while Coimbatore recorded 47 per cent more rainfall than usual.
This weather pattern follows the impact of Cyclone Fengal, which struck Tamil Nadu and Puducherry between November 29 and December 1.
The cyclone brought intense rainfall, followed by additional showers from a low-pressure system over the southern Bay of Bengal.
The disaster resulted in 12 fatalities, submerged over 2, 11, 000 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land, and affected nearly 1.5 crore individuals across 69 lakh families.