Weathermen issue orange, yellow rainfall warnings for Tamil Nadu till May 19
A cyclonic circulation lies over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Sri Lanka and a trough runs from the cyclonic circulation are likely to bring heavy rains, said the Indian Meteorological Department
Representative image
CHENNAI: Reeling under scorching summer till a few days ago, Tamil Nadu is now witnessing intermittent and scattered rains across the State, bringing the mercury down. The rains are likely to continue over the Western Ghats, capital Chennai and southern districts for the next few days.
Staring at water scarcity, the State will get rains under the influence of wind discontinuity and cyclonic circulation prevailing over the sea. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, has issued orange and yellow warnings predicting heavy to very heavy rain for the next four days.
An RMC official said the rains have brought down the maximum temperature with normal and below-normal temperatures getting recorded. Chennai witnessed cloudy sky conditions on Wednesday with light to moderate rain likely for the next two days.
A cyclonic circulation lies over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Sri Lanka. Also, a trough runs from the cyclonic circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Sri Lanka to Lakshadweep between 1.5 km and 4.5 km above mean sea level. For the next two days, as many as 26 districts in TN are likely to receive heavy rain – Dindigul, Theni, Sivaganga, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Ramanathapuram, The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Karur, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Pudukkottai.
On May 18 and 19, an orange alert was issued predicting heavy to very heavy rain for several districts such as Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Theni, Tenkasi, Coimbatore and The Nilgiris. Also, many areas are expected to receive light to moderate rain along with thunderstorm activity and gusty winds with speeds reaching 40 kmph to 50 kmph.
The rains have not helped the inflow into the Mettur, which serves as the lifeline for Delta farmers. Only 126 cusecs flowed into the reservoir on Wednesday, with its storage level showing 50.36 feet as of 8 am.
