On the second day after onset, the North-East monsoon rains have extended to almost the entire South Peninsula, bringing Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, South Interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema under its spell. Rainfall occurred at many places over Tamil Nadu, at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and at isolated places over Kerala, Rayalaseema, Telangana and South Interior Karnataka. Tamil Nadu recorded the heaviest rainfall during the 24 hours ending on Friday morning.
A ‘nowcast’ issued at 5.15 pm by the Thiruvananthapuram Met Office said that a thunderstorm accompanied by moderate rain is likely to lash Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
A further outlook for Kerala said that ‘heavy’ (7-11 cm in 24 hours) rainfall is likely at one or two places till Saturday morning. Heavy rain has also been forecast at isolated places over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during this period.
The rains are likely to decrease in intensity later and resume from November 7 with a scattered to fairly widespread pattern over Tamil Nadu and Kerala while being isolated to scattered over the adjoining Met subdivisions.
Earlier, the India Met Department (IMD) in its extended forecast had said that rainfall over the South Peninsula (Tamil Nadu, adjoining Rayalaseema as well as Kerala) would scale up during the week from November 8 to 14.
As for the first half of the ongoing week (November 1 to 7), fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls is likely over Tamil Nadu, Kerala and South Interior Karnataka.
Watch for ‘low’
Overall rainfall activity could be below normal over the South Peninsula while being normal to above normal over the Western Himalayan region during this week.
Over the South Peninsula, the intensity of rainfall would decrease during the second half of the ongoing week.
Meanwhile, the IMD has mounted a watch for a low-pressure area over the Central Bay of Bengal by November 9. Global models see the seas surrounding Sri Lanka warming even ahead of this. This would have implications for the South Tamil Nadu coast, which is in the immediate vicinity.