Northeast monsoon arrives over Tamil Nadu, triggers intense rain spell over northern districts
The Regional Meteorological Centre issues red alert for Chennai and neighbouring districts on October 16 as well indicating a possibility of isolated extremely heavy rainfall exceeding 20 cm. Officials say reservoir gates won’t be open during this spell of rains
by The Hindu Bureau · The HinduThe northeast monsoon set in over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain to the northern parts of the State, particularly Chennai and its neighbouring districts.
A red alert has been sounded for Chennai and its neighbouring areas for Wednesday too, indicating the possibility of isolated extremely heavy rain. The well-marked low-pressure area has intensified into a depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal, and lies about 490 km south-east of Chennai. It is likely to cross the north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Nellore, close to Chennai, in the early hours of Thursday.
The State government has announced a holiday on Wednesday for schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts.
The monsoon has set in five days before its normal onset date of October 20. With the weather system consolidating, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) had upgraded the orange alert issued for Chennai to red alert on Tuesday. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall exceeding 20 cm is predicted in Chennai and neighbouring areas for Wednesday.
Incessant rain lashed various parts of Chennai and other districts in north Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Kudimiyanmalai in Pudukkottai district recorded the heaviest rainfall of 13 cm in the 24 hours, ending 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday. Several other places in and around Chennai, including Gummidipoondi and Ennore, recorded heavy rainfall of 10 cm each.
Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded heavy rainfall of 13 cm and 10 cm respectively till 7.30 p.m.
The RMC, Chennai, has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall for 12 districts in the northern parts and the delta region for Wednesday. Intense rain would shift to other northern districts, including Ranipet and Vellore, by Thursday. Chennai and its neighbouring districts may get heavy rainfall on Thursday too.
S. Balachandran, Additional Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said 42 weather stations recorded heavy rain on Tuesday. The department has issued a red alert for Wednesday as the slow-moving weather system was proceeding towards the Tamil Nadu coast. The southwest monsoon has completely withdrawn, he further said.
The RMC expects the rain to subside after October 19. Though the northeast monsoon set in on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has already received an excess rainfall of 84% since October 1, he further said.
Meanwhile, reservoirs in Chennai have received considerable inflow as the rainfall steadily increased over the catchment areas on Tuesday. Red Hills and Cholavaram recorded extremely heavy rain of 23 cm each and Avadi, 22 cm, within 12 hours till 6 p.m.
Published - October 16, 2024 12:20 am IST