A fresh weather system will sustain fairly widespread rainfall across Tamil Nadu till October 26, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai said on Tuesday night. The RMC has issued orange alerts for a few southern districts, including Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, which may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall of up to 20 cm on October 22 and 23.

South and delta districts, including Nagapattinam, Theni and Ramanathapuram, may receive intense rainfall on Wednesday, while interior districts such as Madurai and Karur may also record heavy rainfall this week. Chennai is forecast to get moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning on Wednesday. Light to moderate rain was recorded till 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore and Cuddalore, and at several places in and around Chennai.

V.R. Durai, head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said conditions were also being monitored for isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the southern districts. A low-pressure area expected to form over the Bay of Bengal around October 23 might not have a significant rainfall impact over Tamil Nadu, he said, adding that none of the back-to-back weather systems was expected to intensify into a cyclone. A vigorous northeast monsoon has wiped out the state's rainfall deficit this month, with Tamil Nadu recording a 12% surplus so far. The India Meteorological Department has separately forecast heavy to very heavy rain over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal during October 20 to 22. Sources: The Hindu; India Meteorological Department forecasts reported by Daily Jagran.