Satellite pictures this (Tuesday) morning showed intimidating clusters of rain clouds converging over South Coastal Tamil Nadu with the Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai warning that these intense convective clouds have the potential to cause extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Thoothukudi district into the morning hours.

 

Monday has already seen heavy to very heavy rainfall (in cm) over this region as well as over the rest of the larger South Peninsula till evening with individual station rain records as follows: Thoothukudi-17; Madurai -6; Kanyakumari and South Madurai -4 each; Manali, Palayankottai, Tondi and Nellore -3 each; Nahan, Chennai, Tiruppatur, Periakulum and Atiramapattinam -2 each; Ongole, Bengaluru, Kochi, Punalur, Tiruchirappalli and Vellore -1 each.

Troughs persist over Bay, Arabian Sea

India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi, said that rain or thundershowers lashed most places over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during this period; many places over Himachal Pradesh, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala; a few places over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Lakshadweep; and isolated places over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rayalaseema, Madhya Maharashtra and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The prevailing troughs in easterlies from the Comorin area to north Coastal Tamil Nadu and another trough from Maldives area to South-East Arabian Sea off Kerala coast persist. They would continue to trigger scattered to fairly widespread rainfall, thunderstorms, lightning and isolated heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday) and over Lakshadweep today.

Weather bloggers in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu spoke about a growing bias of the heavy rainfall session towards the southern parts of Tamil Nadu from today and tomorrow. Their assessment of the situation as it might evolve is as follows:

Chennai blogger outlook

@ChennaiRains: North Tamil Nadu including Chennai could see a gradual reduction in rains from today while South Tamil Nadu N will see rains continue. Intense thunderstorms in parts of Erode district. Heavy rains around Bhavani near Lakshminagar.

@jhrishi2: Rains to gradually reduce along North Tamil Nadu coast in the next 24-48 hrs. Delta/South Tamil Nadu might see good rains next 24 hrs. Dry phase to begin from November 19 for 6-7 days probably. Another system development possibly in South-West Bay of Bengal around November 24.

@jhrishi2: First major widespread spell has happened in north Tamil Nadu regions. Last 24 hours: Sriperumbudur-18.3 cm; Kanchipuram-15.7 cm; Gummidipoondi-9.8 cm; Mahabalipuram-9.6 cm; Chembarambakkam Lake -7.2 cm; Ambattur- 4 cm; Alandur-3.7 cm; Meenambakkam-2.2 cm and DGP office-1.8 cm.

@chennai_updates: Clear skies, hazy conditions in the morning. Drizzling to light rains in the evening continuing through the night. That's how Chennai would be today. No heavy rains. Districts to watch are Dindigul-Madurai-Virudhunagar-Nellai (moderate to heavy).

@chennaiweather: Forecasts suggest low pressure area over South-West Bay of Bengal on November 26. Till then mostly dry weather with occasional showers possible in Chennai. Rains will reduce gradually from tomorrow as dry period starts from November 18/19. 4-5 days before next spell.

@JW_Chennai: Monsoon vigorous over parts of Tamil Nadu especially the southern and coastal parts. Thoothukudi crossed 15 cm-mark till now. Big bands east of Chennai likely to enter into coast bringing heavy rains along its way. Get ready Chennai.

@chennaisweather: A perfect monsoon day most parts of Tamil Nadu. Drenching rains with Thoothukudi recording bulk of 15 cm from 8:30 am. Enjoying the bliss of a dark cloudy day with slow rains. Semma intense band waiting off Chennai coast if it moves inside city rains will increase.

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