CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Centre has revised the heavy to very heavy rainfall alert for Chennai and its surrounding districts for Wednesday, downgrading it to a heavy rain alert.
According to the latest forecast, heavy rain is likely at isolated places in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts on Wednesday. Light to moderate rain is expected at a few places over North Coastal Tamil Nadu and at one or two places in other parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal.
Earlier, the forecast predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram districts apart from heavy rains in Villupuram, Cuddalore and Puducherry on Wednesday.
The heavy rainfall alert for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts for Thursday has also been withdrawn. The latest forecast states that light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over North Coastal Tamil Nadu and at isolated places in other parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal.
The low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal has now intensified into a well-marked low-pressure area. It is expected to move northwestwards towards the north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts over the next 24 hours and subsequently move northwards along the Andhra Pradesh coast in the following 24 hours.
In the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, Rajapalayam, Srivilliputhur and Watrap, all in Virudhunagar district, recorded rainfall of 9 cm, 7 cm and 5 cm, respectively. Since October 1, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have received 56.5 cm of rainfall, 35% higher than the normal rainfall of 41.87 cm.