The effect of cyclone Fani moving north from the Tamil Nadu coast has resulted in mercury levels soaring in many parts of the state. On Friday morning, for the second day in a row, Vellore recorded the highest temperature in Tamil Nadu at 44.3 degree Celsius followed by Thiruthani at 44 degrees.

The latest bulletin from Regional Meteorological Centre has predicted that heat wave conditions are likely to prevail over some parts of Tamil Nadu in Tiruvallur, Chennai, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal, Tiruchirapalli, Karur, Dindigul, Pudukottai, Madurai and Sivagangai districts, in addition to Rayalaseema and south coastal Andhra Pradesh for the next three days.

Speaking to TNM, weather blogger Pradeep John explains, “In Vellore, all-time high recorded temperature during the month of May has been 45 degrees. In 2009, it hit 44 degrees on May 13, but not as early as May 3. We can say 44.3 is the highest recorded temperature in the last ten years in Vellore this early in the month.”

As for Chennai, Meenambakkam airport recorded 42.5 degree Celsius on 5.30 pm on Friday, highest for May 3. “Last year, we had 40 in Chennai during May. The year before on May 19, it touched 42.6. While 42 degrees may be common for Chennai, experiencing it this early in the month is new. Usually, we expect mercury levels to reach this high during latter part of the month. All this is mainly Fani’s doing,” adds Pradeep.

With 37.5 being recorded average in Chennai, observed temperature of 42 degrees indicates heat wave conditions. “The phenomenon is expected to continue for the next one week and it is mainly because the cyclone has dragged away all moisture. May will be comparatively hotter this year because of that. How the rest of the month will play out to be, depends on the westerlies,” he says.