There’s an old Tamil saying “புரட்டாசியில் பொன் உருக காய்ந்து மன் உருக பெய்யும்”. In a week’s time the Tamil Month of Purattasi will arrive. South Tamil Nadu has been seeing increased temperatures for the past couple of days with places like Madurai touching nearly 40°C.
Weather models indicate today many parts of South TN could see temperatures around 40°C. In particular parts of Virudhunagar, Madurai & Thoothukudi districts could come under intense afternoon heat. Most other parts of TN except for the Western areas could see temperatures in the region of 36 to 38°C.
Some may wonder why September is sizzling. The reason lies in how the Earth faces the Sun. Many of us know the seasons is an effect of the changing orientation of Earth’s tilt towards the Sun. If there was no tilt in the Earth’Axis temperatures may not vary by much during the year with places closer to the Equator remaining hot right through the year and places closer to the Poles seeing winter right through the year.
When the Northern Hemisphere faces the Sun it’s summer for us places North of Equator. South India being closer to Equator sees temperatures raise twice in a year when the Sun’s angle falls over Equator. As all of us know it passes through Equator twice a year in what is called as Equinoxes. Today the angle of Sun is over Sri Lanka latitude bringing us the increased heat quotient.
There is a good news though among all the heat talk. A developing low pressure in North Bay, off Odisha Coast, could bring back Thunderstorms to the East coast through wind instabilities over the next day or two.