Chennai to Hit 104°F Today as Met Department Issues 7-Day Heavy Rain Warning for Tamil Nadu

The Chennai Meteorological Centre has forecast that Chennai will record a maximum temperature of 104°F (40°C) today, coinciding with a sweeping seven-day heavy rainfall warning issued for Tamil Nadu.

Heatwave Grips the State

As summer intensifies across Tamil Nadu, temperatures have been climbing sharply. The met centre confirmed that 12 locations in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry recorded temperatures at or above 100°F on the previous day. Vellore led the state with a scorching 108°F, while Tiruchi, Chennai Meenambakkam, and Madurai Airport all recorded 104°F. Madurai city, Tirupattur, and Dharmapuri logged 103°F, and Erode, Karur Paramathi, and Tiruttani registered 102°F. Nagapattinam saw 101°F and Palayamkottai hit 100°F. Puducherry also recorded a century temperature.

For Chennai specifically, today's maximum is forecast at 104°F. The combination of high temperatures and high humidity is expected to cause discomfort at one or two locations, the met centre cautioned.

7-Day Heavy Rain Warning

An atmospheric trough (low-pressure channel) is persisting at around 0.9 km altitude, running from West Rajasthan to the Gulf of Kanyakumari, passing through East Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Telangana, Rayalaseema, and interior Tamil Nadu. This is driving widespread rain activity.

May 2 (Today): Light to moderate rain with thunder and strong winds (30–40 km/h) likely at a few places across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal. Heavy rain is forecast at one or two spots in eight districts: Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Karur, and Tiruchi.

May 3 (Tomorrow): Heavy rain likely at one or two spots in hilly areas of Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts, and in Theni and Dindigul districts.

May 4: Heavy rain possible at one or two spots in a large number of districts — Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Tiruchi, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruvannamalai, Karur, and Kallakurichi.

May 5–8: Heavy rain is forecast to continue across parts of Tamil Nadu.

Rain Chances Until 7 PM Today

A separate trough extending from south Odisha to the Gulf of Mannar through Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu is also active. As a result, 14 districts have been identified as having rain chances until 7 PM today: Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Tenkasi, Perambalur, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, and Ranipet.

Chennai City Forecast

For today and tomorrow, Chennai and its suburbs will see partly cloudy skies. Maximum temperature is expected to hover around 39–40°C (102–104°F) and the minimum around 29–30°C (84–86°F). With both high temperature and high humidity prevailing, discomfort conditions are likely.

For the period May 4–6, temperatures across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal may drop by 2–3°C at some places.

Fishermen Warning

The met centre has advised fishermen not to venture into north Andhra coastal areas, northwest Bay of Bengal, and adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal today, where squally winds of 45–55 km/h, gusting up to 65 km/h, are expected.