CHENNAI: It was a ‘stand and deliver’ kind of rain on Thursday night and experts say this was the heaviest spell of rain since December 1, 2015. Though a major part of the day remained sunny and dry, rainfall activity picked up from 6 pm and shifted gears, and by 10 pm, the Nungambakkam weather station has recorded a whopping 120 mm of rainfall.
The Met office has attributed the spike in rainfall to a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal. Conditions remain conducive for a good monsoon across the State over the next 48 hours and Chennai would receive moderate to heavy rainfall. Not just Nungambakkam, several weather stations reportedly breached the 100-mm mark in north, central and southern parts of the city.
S Balachandran, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said a low-pressure area lingers over Sri Lanka and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal, and the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 5.8 km above the mean sea level was also persisting. “Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over south Tamil Nadu, Karaikal area, and Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai districts.”