CHENNAI: Even as rains continue to batter many parts of TN, countdown has begun for the arrival of the northeast monsoon. The southern and western parts of the State are receiving copious rains, with Yethappur in Salem recording a 21-cm rainfall in the last 24 hours (ending 8.30 am on Thursday).
The IMD bulletin on Thursday afternoon said the southwest monsoon is likely to withdraw from the entire country around October 26 with the likely onset of northeasterly winds in the lower tropospheric levels over the Bay of Bengal and extreme south peninsular India. Simultaneously, the northeast monsoon rains are also likely to commence over the southeast peninsular India from around October 26.
The norm is that the northeast monsoon is not declared before October 10 even if the conditions prevail. The normal date of the onset of northeast monsoon is October 20, with a standard deviation of one week. “Northeast monsoon is likely to make an explosive start for Tamil Nadu,” said Skymet weather in a post.