Friday 9 February: Summer seems to be arriving earlier than usual in many parts of the country this time, with several major cities in South India like Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad already feeling the heat. The weather is usually expected to be more pleasant in early February, but the ongoing El Niño phenomenon appears to be sparking warmer than usual temperatures. Fortunately, some, if not all, southern regions may see some relief from rain in the coming days.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), easterly/northeasterly winds prevail over southern peninsular India, along with a weak trough extending between Vidarbha and north interior Karnataka.
Under the influence of these systems, isolated light rain is likely over coastal Andhra Pradesh on Friday (February 9), Tamil Nadu on Friday and Saturday (February 9-10) and Telangana on Saturday and Sunday (February 10-11).
As for state capitals, Chennai will witness partly cloudy skies, light rain in some areas, along with fog in the early morning hours. Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam will witness cloudy skies. No alerts have been issued yet.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala were able to accumulate surplus rainfall in January, but the neighboring southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were not as fortunate. Dry weather extended into February as well, and no rain fell in the south of the Indian peninsula in the first week of this month. It remains to be seen whether the upcoming wet conditions will have any impact on the rainfall deficit in the region.
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