The temperature in Chennai has been 22 degrees for the past few days. Netizens are saying that Chennai is Glukulu like Kodaikanal and Ooty. Chennai is the capital city so much that there are no residents of Chennai who do not ask “This is our Chennai”! But those who know history will not wonder about Chennai like this. Because Chennai (A) Madras has been experiencing occasional snowfall since last 200 years. Would you believe it when we told you that the temperature in Madras was as low as -3 degrees Celsius? Yes, such incidents have happened!
It is hard to imagine that today’s Chennai, known for its scorching heat in summer, was cold and frosty. But the fact remains that “Madras” at that time was basically home to 11 degrees Celsius.
200 years ago in Madras, especially in the last week of April 1815, the temperature dropped below freezing. In the 19th century, there have been cold spells, particularly freezing periods at -3 degrees. Madras, then a city that knew only three seasons, has now transformed into a hot, hot and hellish metropolis.
According to a report in The Hindu, the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia seems to be responsible for Chennai’s cold weather. This event is `Tambora: The Eruption That Changed In the name of ‘The World’ Gillen D‘Arcy Wood‘ has described. According to The Hindu, the temperature on the morning of April 24, 1815 (Monday) was 11 degrees; 1815 April 28 (Friday) The temperature dropped to minus 3 degrees Celsius! It is also said that due to the lack of complete data on this, it may be slightly exaggerated. However, it is true that the temperature was very low then.
The dust from the Tambora eruption was like a veil over the clouds. It began its drift westwards in the upper atmospheric winds. Its windward route to India spurred the trade winds, bending thousands of waterways below on a similar course.
Madras after two weeks, resulting in fluctuations in its temperature. Temperatures drop below freezing thanks to aerosols in the volcanic cloud that absorb heat from the Sun and Earth.
During the rule of the East India Company, pumice stones washed ashore along the coast. Although this is a strange phenomenon, not a single incident has been recorded. No one mentioned the tsunami warning either. However, it caused more damage. A cloud of ash spread across the globe.
In 1816, monsoon rains in India damaged crops. Pestilences wreaked havoc. 70,000 people died worldwide due to volcanic eruptions. ‘In August 1815, the brig Catharina – the first ship from Java after the outbreak – arrived at Madras. The volcanic ash brought by the person who came in it was sent to Calcutta for further study. But no one connected the great freeze in Madras with volcanism.
Little did anyone know that Madras had a rich history. Although no one recorded this in written history, it is still something to remember.
It’s not as if history once said to us, who suffer from the weather in Chennai, “It never beats, it’s just a breeze”…!