Dog days ahead as peak summer 'Kathiri' to set in on May 4

Dog days would continue for the next three weeks till the peak summer ends on May 28, during which the temperatures were expected to shoot up by a couple of degrees.

Already several parts of the state were reeling under scorching sun, with the mercury levels touching past the 110 Deg F mark in places like Tiruttani, Vellore and other places, while it hovered around 100 to 102 deg F mark in Chennai and its suburbs, where the temperatures once went up to 108 Deg F in the last few days. 

While confirming that 'Kathiri' would commence from Thursday, the Met department have also predicted rains and thunderstorms at a few places over interior Tamil Nadu in view of convective activities.

Met department sources said ''the scorching heat wave conditions (Agni Nakshatram) will start on May four and continue for the next 25 days. During the time, the temperatures will touch extreme highs, accompanied by hot winds blowing in the west and southwest directions.''

''But due to convection, thunderstorm, accompanied with gusty winds, is likely to occur at isolated places over interior Tamil Nadu,' the sources said. 

Officials said rainfall occurred at isolated places over Tamil Nadu while dry weather prevailed in other parts of the State. 

Shencottah recorded a maximum rainfall of 2 cm. Hosur, Kodaikanal, Ketti, Valparai and K Bridge recorded 1 cm each. 

In Chennai there was slight dip in the temperatures as the sky was partly cloudy.

The rising mercury levels has caused more concern for the water mangers as the Chennai's water bodies were facing depleted storage causing scarcity of drinking water.