CHENNAI: Fulfilling the weather department’s forecast, several districts of the State, especially the southern ones, had rain on Wednesday, bringing much needed respite from the most scorching days of summer.
Rainfall with strong winds lashed Tirunelveli and nearby areas for more than a hour on Wednesday afternoon. As a result of the intense downpour, several roads including the Tiruchendur Road were water logged which hit traffic movement.
The strong winds uprooted trees in several areas, including a tree planted at the Tiruneveli municipal corporation. While three trees fell in Krishnapuram, four trees were uprooted at V.M. Chatram area. Around 2000 banana trees were also damaged.
According to local reports, for the third consecutive day, Dharapuram in Tirupur district got showers. Udumalaipettai region also got rain, accompanied by thunder. Over the past weekend, Dharapuram recorded rainfall above 40mm.
Tiruchirappalli and Madurai also had mild drizzles and light rain, with the sky staying cloudy since morning. Though heat-weary people expected heavy rain, there was only sporadic and light showers till evening.
In the southern districts of Theni and Dindigul which were already having good rain, the showers lashed several places like Periyakulam, Aandipatti, and Bodi on Wednesday.
Speaking to Express, S Balachandran, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai said the rains were caused by the meeting of westerly and easterly winds over the ghat section.
Rainfall records for last 24 hours
Samayapuram (Trichy dist)
6 cm
Pechiparai (Kanyakumari), Lower Kothaiyar (Kanyakumari), Sattur (Virudhunagar)
5 cm each
G Bazar and Devala (Nilgiris), Sivaganga (Sivaganga)
4 cm each
Salem (Salem), Padalur (Perambalur), Aruppukottai (Virudhunagar)
3 cm each