CHENNAI: A historic cyclonic development has unfolded far to the east of Tamil Nadu, even as the meteorologists made it clear that Cyclone Senyar—the rare system over the Strait of Malacca—will have no impact on Tamil Nadu’s weather.
Instead, rainfall over the State in the coming days will be driven entirely by a separate, intensifying low-pressure area over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, closer to Sri Lanka.
This low-pressure area near Southeast Sri Lanka, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said, strengthened into a well-marked system early on Wednesday and is likely to intensify into a depression within 24 hours.
The system is expected to move north-northwest towards the North Tamil Nadu–Pondicherry coast during the subsequent 48 hours, bringing a surge of moisture over the region.
Meanwhile, Cyclone Senyar, located over the Strait of Malacca, intensified early on Wednesday and crossed the northeast Indonesian coast with winds of 70–80 kmph. The system, however, remains more than 1,500 km away from Tamil Nadu and is tracking west-southwest with a forecast to curve back east and weaken thereafter.
Weather blogger K Srikanth called it a “historic” formation. “Since the late 1800s, no cyclone has formed over the Strait of Malacca. Senyar becomes the first,” he wrote, adding that its unusually low latitude makes it meteorologically significant but operationally irrelevant for Tamil Nadu. “It will have zero influence on our weather,” he emphasised.
The Met office has issued a series of heavy rain warnings for southern, delta, and northern coastal districts over the next five days. On Thursday, heavy rainfall is forecasted over Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam.
From November 28 onward, rainfall activity is set to escalate sharply. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely across the delta, Karaikal, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and parts of South Tamil Nadu. The peak rainfall window is forecast between November 29 and 30, when extremely heavy rain may occur in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Villupuram and Chengalpattu, while Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram may receive heavy to very heavy spells.
Thunderstorms and strong coastal winds (30–40 kmph) are also likely until Thursday. Chennai will see light rain with partly cloudy skies over the next two days.