CHENNAI: After an active monsoon spell, Chennai is all set to get a break from the rains, while southern Tamil Nadu will continue to receive heavy downpour in the coming days. In view of the rain alert, Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar on Tuesday said the State has been constantly monitoring storage levels in lakes as well as dams across TN and would decide on releasing the water once they reach the maximum level.
The southern districts bore the brunt of the downpour with Thoothukudi receiving the highest rainfall of 17 cm on Tuesday. The intensity of the rains was such that the inflow into the dams increased from 3,000 cusec to 9,120 cusec in a day. While Madurai city recorded 66.2 mm of rainfall, Tirunelveli district touched 456 mm. The water at Papanasam dam reached 111.20 ft, 32 ft short of its maximum capacity.
Meanwhile, a wall of a house collapsed at Ramanathapuram following heavy rains through the night, resulting in the death of a 65-year-old woman. Moving further south, Sivagiri town received 101 mm of rainfall in a day, along with Tenkasi, Shengottai, Ayikudi, Sankarankovil, Alangulam, Kadayanallur, Puliyangudi, and Kadayam also witnessing heavy downpour.
All the three major waterfalls in Courtallam too witnessed flooding for the second consecutive day. In Kanniyakumari district, Mylaudy received the highest rainfall of 85.4 mm on the day. The Chennai MET office on Tuesday said, trough in easterlies from Comorin area to north coastal TN, which triggered heavy rains in Chennai and its neighbourhood, has moved westwards and merged with the trough in easterlies to southeast Arabian sea, thereby shifting the action to south and west Tamil Nadu regions.
Nov 25: City’s next date with rain?
The trough is likely to move further westwards and under its influence, a low pressure area is likely to form over the southeast Arabian Sea around November 19, said S Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre.
Meanwhile, the presence of Madden–Julian oscillation, the largest element of the intraseasonal variability, and the low pressure, will strengthen the easterlies, said Pradeep John, weather blogger, adding that it would result in good rains till November 19 in southern and western TN.
"Whenever a circulation is in Comorin to Maldives sea, it activates the easterlies by pulling it, and as a result, there will be enhanced rains in Kerala, and south and west TN. As the circulation develops and remains close to the TN coast, there will be heavy rains," he said.
Pradeep added that the system is likely to develop into a depression after November 19, and move away towards Somalia/ Arabia, thus reducing the rains here. The next spell of major rains for Chennai will be around November 25-26, and will be associated with a low pressure or cyclone.