Wet Deepavali likely in most parts of Tamil Nadu

Sharp, intense rain lashed parts of Chennai on Wednesday. Heavy rainfall is likely to shift to interior parts of Tamil Nadu from Deepavali day

Two weather systems close to the Tamil Nadu coast will revive  northeast monsoon rainfall in the State. Wednesday’s heavy rainfall in the coastal belt would shift to interior districts and those along the Western Ghats from Deepavali day.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, said a cyclonic circulation persisting over the Gulf of Mannar and an upper air cyclonic circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh triggered rainfall in the coastal belt, breaking a nearly fortnight-long lull in the monsoon.

Sharp and intense rain lashed parts of Chennai, including Anna  Nagar, Villivakkam, Ambattur, and Koyambedu, since Wednesday afternoon, leaving some arterial stretches waterlogged and throwing traffic out of gear. Vehicles crawled on many arterial roads. The waterlogged portion of Jawaharlal Nehru Salai between Padi  and Koyambedu was chock-a-block.

The automatic rain gauge at Villivakkam recorded a heavy rainfall of 10 cm within one or two hours in the afternoon.  Karaikal received 6 cm till 5.30 p.m. Rain gauges at Nungambakkam (5 cm) and YMCA Nandanam (4 cm) recorded moderate rainfall.

According to data from the Greater Chennai Corporation, heavy rain lashed Anna Nagar West (9 cm) between noon and 1 p.m. The other places that recorded significant rainfall in one hour were New Manali  Town, Kolathur, Perambur, and Aminjikarai with 6 cm each.

P. Senthamarai Kannan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, RMC, said the coastal belt from Tiruvallur to Ramanathapuram would likely receive heavy rainfall till Thursday morning. As the weather systems move westward, rain clouds would shift to interior parts and districts along the Western Ghats.

Wet weather would continue in the State for four or five days as an impact of the prevailing weather disturbances. The return of easterly winds and two weather systems had enhanced the rainfall activity, he said.

On Deepavali day, isolated places in 15 interior districts, including  Karur, Vellore, Madurai, and Erode, would receive heavy rain. While rainfall would cover many places on Friday and Saturday, it would be of heavy intensity in interior districts and those along the Western Ghats, according to the RMC bulletin.

It would be a wet Deepavali for Chennai, too, as the RMC has forecast light to moderate rain, with thunderstorms, in some areas.

On the sudden intense rain in parts of Chennai, Mr. Kannan said that whenever weather disturbances were close to the Tamil Nadu coast, there would be a sudden increase in moisture that would cause intense rain in some parts. While the RMC had predicted moderate rainfall the previous day, such sharp and short bursts of thundershowers in a certain region could not be predicted much in advance. A heavy rainfall warning was issued a few hours before the rain on Wednesday.

Published - October 30, 2024 10:01 pm IST