Tamil Nadu is bracing for two days of intense rain as a low-pressure system over the southwest Bay of Bengal strengthens the ongoing northeast monsoon, Chennai Vision reported on October 22, citing the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Source: Chennai Vision
According to the IMD, the low-pressure area formed at 5.30 am on October 21 under the influence of an upper-air cyclonic circulation off the Tamil Nadu coast and remained over the same region at 8.30 am, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said, with its associated circulation extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level.
Mirror Now reported that the IMD has issued an orange alert for 17 southern and delta districts on Thursday, with nine more districts under a yellow alert. By Friday, the orange alert is expected to cover three southern and western districts, with a yellow alert extending across 24 districts.
Source: Mirror Now
Chennai Vision listed the districts on alert for Thursday as Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Sivaganga, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai, with Karaikal in Puducherry also expected to see intense rainfall. Thursday's forecast points to heavy or very heavy rain at isolated locations, with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 40–50 kmph in one or two places.
Chennai is expected to see moderate rainfall with occasional thunderstorms over the immediate three-day window. RMC Chennai's Area Cyclone Warning Centre director V. R. Durai said the low-pressure system is expected to weaken slightly before moving north, which could bring heavy rainfall back to Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet and Kancheepuram on October 25, Mirror Now reported.
The fresh system follows overnight downpours that brought trees down and flooded low-lying neighbourhoods in Chennai and other areas, Chennai Vision reported. On Friday, rainfall is likely to become widespread, with isolated heavy to very heavy showers forecast in Kanyakumari, the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts. Residents in vulnerable and low-lying areas have been advised to follow official weather updates and take precautions against flooding, strong winds and waterlogging.
What is solid
- The IMD has an orange alert in place for 17 southern and delta districts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, both Mirror Now and Chennai Vision reported, citing the IMD/RMC.
- A low-pressure area formed over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the Tamil Nadu coast on the morning of October 21, according to the IMD via Chennai Vision.
What is only claimed
- How much rain individual districts will actually receive remains a forecast, not an outcome; the expected return of heavy rain to Chennai around October 25 depends on the system's track, RMC officials said.