The Hindu Business Line : Locally heavy rain lashes peninsula

Cold wave conditions prevailed in northwest India and parts of west and central India even as the southeast coast saw sporadic heavy rain break out during the 48 hours that ended Sunday morning.

A weather-making western disturbance has cleared out from the landmass trailing which cold northwesterlies engulfed the plains in the north and northwest. Easterlies blowing in from around the tip of the southern peninsula continued to head in a north-northeast direction to penetrate the southeastern coast of India and bring rains.

In doing so, the easterlies wedged their way between opposing fronts spearheaded by a westerly wind regime and a seasonal high-pressure region over the Bay of Bengal. Going forward, the westerly winds have been forecast to nudge the narrow corridor of moisture-laden winds further to the east and gradually into the sea.

Thus, the ongoing precipitation is expected to taper off within the next few days but not before dumping locally excessive rainfall over parts of interior Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at most places over coastal Andhra Pradesh, at many places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Rayalaseema and at a few places over Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Isolated rain or thundershowers are likely to occur over Telangana and Karnataka.

Isolated heavy rain is likely to occur over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next 48 hours, according to a forecast by the Regional Met Centre, Chennai.

Rain or thundershowers have also been forecast at a few places over coastal Orissa during the next 24 hours and isolated rain or thundershowers over the coastal areas of West Bengal, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and south Chhattisgarh.

An India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast said that rain or thundershowers are also likely at a few places over Karnataka and Kerala. Medium-range forecast for two days after February 13 too spoke about prospects of isolated to scattered rainfall activity over peninsular India.

COLD WAVE

Meanwhile, current meteorological analysis suggests that the prevailing cold wave conditions over many parts of northwest India, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha are likely to continue during the next three days except over Maharashtra where they are likely to abate after two days. This will happen with incoming moisture-laden southeasterlies managing to hold the cold northwesterlies at bay.

Ground frost conditions have been forecast for Punjab, Haryana, northeast Rajasthan and cold wave over Gujarat, Konkan, and Goa over the next two to three nights. Cold wave conditions are likely over Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha, too.

Towards the east, a fall in minimum temperatures by 2-4 °C and cold wave conditions are likely to settle over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and adjoining Orissa. Rain or thundershowers are likely at a few places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.

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