CHENNAI: An unexpected cloudburst-like weather event caught Chennaiites by surprise on Thursday, ahead of New Year festivities that are subdued due to the Omicron threat. Choolaimedu, T Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Teynampet, Mylapore and Broadway, which had just recovered from flooding caused due to the unprecedented rain in November, once again bore the brunt of weather.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall, of intensity that at times exceeded 100 mm per hour, was reported in areas close to the coast. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) labels rainfall of over 100 mm per hour as cloudburst. Usually small areas — anywhere between 20-80 sq km — are affected.
A heavy downpour at the end of December, without a low-pressure area or depression in the Bay, is very rare. It’s atypical of Northeast monsoon rains, which occur mostly during nights and early mornings. None of the weather models picked-up these rains.
N Puviarasan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, told TNIE that such rains are difficult to predict. “We had forecast heavy rains in coastal areas from Delta region to Chengalpattu on December 31 because there was an easterly trough which was expected to move inland on Friday, but things drastically changed and the cloudmass was pushed in early on Thursday towards the northern side, ending over Chennai. The slow moving storm and the local convergence led to heavy rainfall being dumped over a smaller area.”
He said rainfall activity is likely to continue till January 2, although the intensity would vary. By evening, several stations recorded close to 150 mm of rainfall. By 6 pm, Mylapore had recorded the highest rainfall of 207 mm and by 8 pm, MRC Nagar (Chennai) had seen 198 mm of rain, Nungambakkam 177.2 mm, Meenambakkam 131.3 mm and Anna University 121 mm. Also, a red alert was sounded at 8 pm for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts. Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, KKSSR Ramachandran, said three persons (two women and a boy) died of electrocution.
By virtue of this onslaught, the annual rainfall record of 2015 has been overtaken by 2021. “The year 2021 is the third wettest of all time after 2005 and 1996,” said weather blogger Pradeep John in a series of tweets. Both John and K Srikanth, who runs the popular Twitter handle Chennai Rains, called Thursday’s event a “freak show”. “There was not even a hint; 5 mm was expected, but what we got was 100-200 mm,” John said.
Several commuters, who were not expecting the sudden downpour, struggled to get home on Thursday evening. With even arterial roads waterlogged and traffic disrupted, two-wheeler riders particularly faced hardship and many had trouble booking autos and cabs. “I tried for around two hours to book a cab but could book none. My brother came from our house in Keelkattalai to pick me up at Mandaveli,” said Kiran C, a chartered accountant.
Mount Road, TTK road, CP Ramaswamy Road and Anna Salai were among the arterial stretches that were flooded. The stretch between SRP Tools to Thoraipakkam and connecting roads to LB Road in Adyar were also inundated. T Nagar, Ashok Nagar and KK Nagar, that suffered from severe waterlogging in the rains last month, were waterlogged once again. Bazullah Road in T Nagar had knee-deep water and GN Chetty Road too was inundated. Several parts of OMR, Perungudi and Velachery were inundated in Southern Chennai. “There is knee-deep water in our street. We are considering cancelling our bus tickets to travel to Tiruchy tonight,” said Srinivasan S, a resident of Vandikaran street in Guindy.
‘Freak show’ helps 2021 eclipse 2015
The Thursday deluge helped 2021 trump the city’s annual rainfall record of 2015. “The year 2021 is the third wettest after 2005 and 1996,” said weather blogger Pradeep John in a series of tweets. Both John and K Srikanth, who runs the popular Twitter handle Chennai Rains, called Thursday’s event a “freak show”.