CHENNAI: There is a perceptible chill in the city, but don’t call it a cold wave. At least, not yet, say meteorological department officials. “A cold wave occurs when temperatures drop from the normal anywhere below four and five degrees,” informs S R Ramanan, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre. “But Northern parts of Tamil Nadu barring Chennai are experiencing cold wave,” he agrees.Chennai didn’t make it to the list as the temperature dropped only by two degrees Celsius from the normal, informs Ramanan. “Clear skies and heat radiation loss is the reason behind cool temperatures,” he explains.Monday night was one of the coldest in this decade for the city with mercury plummeting to 17.7 degrees Celsius.It has been a pleasant week for Chennaiites, used to the hot-hotter-hottest climate, as they enjoyed an extended winter. The relief came days after temperatures started rising following the severe cyclonic storm, Thane, that brought sharp showers before crossing the Tamil Nadu coast on December 30.According to MET officials, the hilly Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu saw near-zero temperatures early this week, resulting in frost covering the landscape. Unusual intense cold conditions also prevailed over Madurai and Coimbatore.The regional weather office expects the conditions to continue for the next two nights.
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