Orange and yellow alerts issued for south and western ghats districts of TN for next three days
The weather department has issued orange and yellow alerts predicting heavy to very heavy rain. However, the rainfall activity is likely to reduce gradually from next week as the system weakens.
Visuals from Chennai (Photo: Justin George)
CHENNAI: Several districts of south and western Tamil Nadu located close to the Western Ghats will continue to receive intense spells for the next three days under the influence of a cyclonic circulation prevails over the sea.
The weather department has issued orange and yellow alerts predicting heavy to very heavy rain. However, the rainfall activity is likely to reduce gradually from next week as the system weakens.
A cyclonic circulation over south interior Karnataka now lies over North Interior Karnataka adjoining Telangana.
Also, a trough from North interior Karnataka to Comorin area now runs from cyclonic circulation over North Interior Karnataka adjoining Telangana to Comorin Area across Kerala and interior Tamil Nadu and extends up to 1.5 km above mean sea level.
The system triggered rainfall activity over southern parts and western ghats districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Erode, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem and Namakkal.
These districts are likely to get heavy to very heavy rain for the next three days. The rest of the state is expected to receive light to moderate rain for the next few days.
On Saturday, some areas in the capital city including Kodambakkam, Guindy, Ekkaduthangal, Ashok Nagar, Alandur, and Saidapet witnessed mild showers.
The wet weather is likely to continue in Chennai and suburbs for the next two days, especially during the evening and night hours along with thunderstorms and lightning activity.
P Senthamarai Kannan, director of the area cyclone center, RMC said, "The rainfall activity occurred over western ghats and southern districts of Tamil Nadu might gradually reduce from next week. As the moisture prevails over the sea, light to moderate rain is expected to occur in some parts of the state in the coming days. As per the model predictions, below normal rainfall has been predicted in the state."
According to RMC rainfall data, during the southwest monsoon from June 1 to August 17, Tamil Nadu received 308 mm of rainfall against the average spell of 164 mm which is 88 percent excess monsoon rain.
Except for Nagapattinam and Mayiladathurai, other districts saw more rainfall during this season.
The capital city recorded 442 mm of rainfall which is 79 percent more than the usual 247 mm.