Today saw the warmest day of the year so far for Chennai. The next couple of days are going to see an increase in day time temperature for Chennai consequent to the absence of strong surface level easterlies.
As explained in the image below the surface level easterlies at this time of the year play a major role in keeping the temperature under check for the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu. Over the next couple of days a combination of wind direction and intensity Chennai could see lesser impact of easterlies resulting in an increase in day time temperature.
The max temperature could touch about 36 / 37 Degrees over the next couple of days. It appears the day time temperatures could see a drop to about 34 / 35 levels again after couple of days. The presence of a ridge over Peninsular India to the SW of Chennai is resulting in the surface level winds blowing in a westerly direction during the nights & early mornings this is the reason for the lower than normal night time temperature over the last few days and is expected to continue for a couple of days more. For the next couple of days the minimum temperature for Chennai could hover around 23 Degrees. Around middle of next week the night time temperature could start to see an increase to about 25 Degrees.
It appears though summer is not very far away for Chennai. The wheels of change that heralds South West Monsoon in a couple of months time is expected to move around 1st week of April. The Easterlies winds are showing signs of slowly becoming South Easterlies and finally becoming westerlies which is the start of the hottest season for Chennai. When the Westerlies form the dry hot winds from the interior places start blowing over Chennai resulting in increased day time temperature.
Also the analysis of the charts show the change in wind directions in the South Indian Ocean the area adjoining the Madagascar Coast which could signify the developing of Mascarene High, a key ingredient of the South West Monsoon.