Vanakkam! What a night it has been and a variably wet morning! What else can thunderstorms rearing in from the warm South-West Bay of Bengal hope to do other than get down to the business they know best? Which is, to smash the daylight out by bearing down on the coast (North Tamil Nadu, including Chennai) taking cover of the darkness!
If this is not a surgical strike carried out with clinical precision, what is?
Some calm had been restored by daybreak, but less-intense thunderstorms are waiting out at sea to carry out their assigned mission through the day, per model forecasts.
Temperatures and the dew point were at a similar 25.8 degrees C early in the morning. This means that the humidity level is at the maximum of 100 per cent, with winds being friendly north-easterly to easterly, says the Chennai Met Office of the India Meteorological Department.
Conditions in the sky will be generally cloudy. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers is likely to occur in some areas.
Light to moderate rain is likely to occur at most places over South Tamil Nadu and at many places over North Tamil Nadu (Chennai included) and Puducherry. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tamil Nadu.
Watch out for castles in the air
Closer home, Chennaiites would be best advised to pay heed to this bit of wisdom from the US Farmers’ Almanac: “When you spy large, white clouds that look like cauliflower or castles in the sky, there is probably lots of dynamic weather going on inside. Innocent clouds look like billowy cotton, not towers. If the clouds start to swell and take on a gray tint, they’re probably turning into thunderstorms.”
So, better watch out! We would like you to share your weather videos, pictures and stories with us on Twitter @vinsonkurian and @businessline . Keep them coming in!
Private forecasters have come out with their own versions of the outlook for Chennai city. A sample is available from the following.
Here is what Weather.com, an IBM Business has to say:
Next, the Weather Bug:
Ventusky, a third international private forecaster:
The RainViewer assessed the prospects at 8.30 am showing a band of easterly winds carrying a potent swarm of thunderstorms waiting to hit Chennai and its neighbourhood.
The 'Namma Chennai' bloggers and weather-friendly Twitteratti had gone ga-ga over the proceedings through Tuesday night as thunderstorms came down like a tonne of bricks.
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