CHENNAI: After playing hide and seek for most of October, North East Monsoon (NEM) showers finally arrived on Wednesday, although a formal announcement on the onset from the meteorological department is still awaited.
The regional weather inference of meteorological department says conditions are becoming favourable for commencement of NEM rains over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next 24 hours and will extend over the rest of Tamil Nadu during the subsequent 48 hours.
However, in Chennai and neighbouring coastal districts typical monsoon conditions prevailed for most of Wednesday with occasional sharp spells of rain and persistent drizzle. The city received 25 mm of rainfall, while suburbs such as Puzhal, Madhavaram and Taramani received over 50 mm of rainfall. Meteorological officials said heavy rain is likely at isolated places over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
S Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology (DDGM), Regional Meteorological Centre, said coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will first experience the monsoon in the next 24 hours. “It will gradually extend to the rest of Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of south Karnataka and Kerala in the subsequent days,” he said.
The official attributed the delay in onset of the monsoon to Cyclone Titli and Luban that formed over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, respectively, early in October. He said the next two months will be crucial. “We will have to wait and watch,” he said.
India Meteorological Department’s seasonal outlook for October to December, released in September, predicted that Tamil Nadu was likely to witness above normal rainfall activity in the range of 12 per cent. However, with the monsoon arriving late, it has to be seen how it will tee off. The normal onset date for NEM is October 20.
Noted weather blogger Pradeep John said the next three days are looking good. “Coastal areas in Tamil Nadu will see widespread rain. Also, south Tamil Nadu and interiors will get their share,” he said.
In the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Wednesday, Chennai and adjoining areas such as Ennore, Kelambakkam and Mahabalipuram recorded five cm rainfall each, as against one cm recorded the day before. The sky is likely to be generally cloudy in Chennai in the next 48 hours. Light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely to occur in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 30 and 24 degree Celsius respectively.
“This year was trickiest”
Met officials said this year was probably the trickiest when it came to predicting onset of NEM. Never has the Met department faltered twice in forecasting the onset. First, it had said monsoon would arrive as early as October 8.However, officials said the department has to follow a set criteria and to make the decision it has to establish that southwest monsoon has withdrawn completely, deep easterlies should set in over Tamil Nadu or seasonal low should have been established in south Bay of Bengal adjacent to Tamil Nadu coast.