When Chennai felt like North Pole: #ChennaiSnow sparks a meme fest on social media

As the city’s temperature dips to 23 degree Celsius in the wake of a new depression refusing to translate into rains, a barrage of hilarious memes keep citizens entertained

A bird’s eye view of MA Chidambaram Stadium, which shimmers as a sea of yellow during the IPL cricket matches, is surprisingly veiled in white. A photograph of a frozen Adyar river with dramatic cracks in the ice breaks the Internet and rightly so. Elsewhere near Saidapet bridge, everyday life comes to a halt as dense fog and sporadic snowfall disturb transport services. Morning walkers, on the other hand, are draped in three layers of thermals in the wake of #ChennaiSnow, as they head to the snow capped St Thomas Mount. 

As the city’s temperature drops to 23 degree Celsius, quite unusual for the month of November, these are some of the memes you might have caught on social media. Though this scenario is not entirely new or unusual, argue some of the city’s favourite weather bloggers and enthusiasts, it did trigger a wave of witty commentary and clever memes this week.

Srikanth K, who runs Chennai Rains (141K) on Twitter, recalls sharing a popular Vadivelu meme that has the comedian say, “Indha bordera thandi neeyum vara koodathu naanum vara maaten”, when he had to explain the incoming rainband and how it has not been moving. “The wind shear is one of the reasons why we felt cold because of the depression,” he says, adding, “When there are cyclones in the North bay during summer months, Chennai has heat waves. Similarly, because the winds are from the North, we feel cold. It has more to do with dry winds from the land than anything else….”

A similar situation unfolded during the Phethai cyclone in 2018, says Srikanth. “But that was in December and people didn’t care that much. The temperature dropped to 21’C, although there was no rain. Maybe there is more interest now and that’s why #ChennaiSnow is trending,” he adds.

People had their share of fun on the Internet: a frozen Jack Nicholson from The Shining (@VKEdits5) became the current state of Chennaiites, while another (@LaughOutTamil) explained how the city feels in different seasons, “Sahara desert during summer, Venice when it rains and North Pole during winter.”

Turns out that every depression comes with its own challenges. “Sea surface temperature, wind shear and dry cold air…there are multiple factors for a depression to translate into rain,” says weather enthusiast Raja Ramasamy, who runs the Twitter page, Chennai Weather (122K).

Sharing a photo from Baahubali, Raja compared Baahubali (Prabhas) as the low pressure system and Bhallaladeva (Rana Daggubati) as dry air and high shear. Chennai, of course, is the kingdom of Maghilmathi.