Marking an end to the respite that the city received in the recent days due to cyclonic storm Asani that brought down the temperature, the weather station at Meenambakkam recorded the hottest day of the year with 40.1 degrees Celsius on Monday. The station at Nungambakkam recorded 39.2 degrees Celsius.

As per the data from the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, Cuddalore recorded 39.3 degrees Celsius, Madurai 39.1 degrees Celsius, Parangipettai 38.8 degrees Celsius and Tiruchy 38.6 degrees Celsius.

According to S Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, RMC, the maximum temperature in the city and State might vary on a daily basis. It may even drop in some of the districts that may receive rains and thunderstorms activity, he added.

“Hottest day of the year in Chennai city (Nungambakkam) is trending close to 39 degrees Celsius with 50 per cent humidity. It reported the hottest day of the year. More hot days expected (sic),” noted weather blogger Pradeep John said in a social media post. The hottest day recorded in May in the last five years was in 2017 when the city recorded 42.6 degrees Celsius, followed by 41.8 degrees Celsius in 2020 and 41.5 degrees Celsius in 2019.

While the temperature is yet to climb as high as the previous years, the spike in heat on Monday was conspicuous became it came after a drastic dip in the past few days due to the effect of the cyclone.