Winter Weather in Chennai IndiaDaily high temperatures increase by 4°F, from 84°F to 88°F, rarely falling below 80°F or exceeding 91°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 83°F on December 27. Daily low temperatures are around 73°F, rarely falling below 68°F or exceeding 77°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 71°F on January 18. For reference, on May 23, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Chennai typically range from 83°F to 98°F, while on January 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 71°F to 84°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Santo Domingo Zanatepec, Mexico (10,372 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Chennai (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Chennai experiences very rapidly decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 58% to 36%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 36% on February 20. The clearest day of the winter is February 20, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 64% of the time. For reference, on June 21, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 97%, while on February 20, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 64%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Chennai, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 33% and ending it at 4%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 54% on November 2, and its lowest chance is 2% on February 1. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Chennai is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 7.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 17.2 inches or falls below 1.2 inches, and ending the season at 0.4 inches, when it rarely exceeds 0.9 inches or falls below -0.0 inches. SunOver the course of the winter in Chennai, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 27 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 18 seconds, and weekly increase of 2 minutes, 9 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is December 20, with 11 hours, 21 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 52 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the winter in Chennai is 6:15 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 20 minutes later at 6:35 AM on January 24. The earliest sunset is 5:40 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 37 minutes later at 6:17 PM on February 28. Daylight saving time is not observed in Chennai during 2024. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:43 AM and sets 12 hours, 54 minutes later, at 6:37 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:26 AM and sets 11 hours, 21 minutes later, at 5:47 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Chennai is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 5% of 87% throughout. The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 82% on January 15. For reference, on April 18, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 15, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 82% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Chennai is rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing from 11.5 miles per hour to 8.6 miles per hour over the course of the season. For reference, on June 18, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.8 miles per hour, while on October 9, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.8 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 11.7 miles per hour on December 6. The lowest daily average wind speed during the winter is 8.5 miles per hour on February 20. The hourly average wind direction in Chennai throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 81% on January 24. Water TemperatureChennai is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Chennai is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 1°F of 81°F throughout. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 80°F on January 13. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Chennai are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Chennai are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 9,170°F, from 10,786°F to 1,616°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Chennai is rapidly increasing during the winter, rising by 1.9 kWh, from 4.9 kWh to 6.7 kWh, over the course of the season. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Chennai are 13.088 deg latitude, 80.278 deg longitude, and 46 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Chennai is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 89 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 23 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (295 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,887 feet). The area within 2 miles of Chennai is covered by artificial surfaces (83%) and water (17%), within 10 miles by water (48%) and artificial surfaces (42%), and within 50 miles by water (61%) and cropland (32%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Chennai, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Chennai International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Chennai. At a distance of 15 kilometers from Chennai, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Chennai according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |