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Vanakkam! It was John Updike who said that rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.
Chennaiites could not agree more as they watched the North-East monsoon get into its elements over the past couple of days pouring down its contents over the city, over Tamil Nadu and over Puducherry.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that a low-pressure area may form over the South-West Arabian Sea and the Equatorial Indian Ocean over the next two days, without indicating a probable location. But from the looks of it, it is expected to be quite some distance away from Sri Lanka and Kanyakumari, even while being able to pull easterly winds across Tamil Nadu. International models suggest that a similar circulation may form nearer the Sri Lankan and Kanyakumari coast in quick succession.
A section of Chennai's historic Buckingham Canal, near Shozinganallur Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
This Friday morning, rains from the ongoing easterly wave activity and resultant rainfall in Tamil Nadu were concentrated mostly to the South with parcels of rain clouds taking off from Point Pedro, Parantan, Veravil, Pallawarayankaddu and the Mannar Island in Sri Lanka and negotiating the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar to open up variously over Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Samayapuram, Kumbakonam, Pattukottai, Adiramapattinam, Orangudi, Kothamangalam, Peravurani, Jamaliya, Kattumavadi, Manamelkudi, Embal, Avudaiyarkoil, Poovattrakudi, Veeramangalam, Aranthangi, Karaikudi, Ariyakudi, Kandadevi, Devakottai, Thalakavoor, Suranam, Ilayangudi, and Ilanthakkarai.
Read the Tamil translation of this weather forecast report here
A lone but heavy thunderstorm was located between Chetpet and Vandavasi and moving westward into the interior. To the North, Tirupati and Pakala in Andhra Pradesh were also buffeted by minor thunderstorms.
Chennai: 40 per cent of rain
Chennai woke up this morning to partially cloudy weather. It may remain generally cloudy later into the day with light to moderate rain forecast for some areas, says the Chennai Met Office of the IMD. International models say the partial cloudiness may give in to scattered showers and thunderstorms into the afternoon with winds easterly to north-easterly at 15-30 km/hr and chances of rain at 40 per cent, which is valid into the night as well.
Most of the other major cities of Tamil Nadu may see a more rainy day under variously cloudy conditions, with Puducherry being the best bet—international forecasters see a 50 per cent probability of rains that ratchets up to 100 per cent into the night. It will range between 50 per cent and 20 per cent for a cloudy Salem; 80 per cent through the day and night for a partly cloudy Coimbatore; 40-80 per cent for both Tiruchirappalli and Madurai; and a much higher 80 per cent, going up to 90 per cent at night, for Thoothukudi.
Chennai International Airport (MAA/VOMM) saw fog/light rain conditions in the morning with a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, and north-easterly winds blowing at 11 km/hr. No delays were reported in arrivals while there was an eight-minute delay in departures.
The national forecast by the IMD said that active easterly wave conditions over the South Peninsula would translate into fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal until tomorrow (Saturday). Heavy rainfall is forecast into Sunday at a few places with very heavy falls at isolated places over the same region. An extended outlook next week from December 4 to 6 (next Wednesday to Friday) said that scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls is likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. It will be isolated to scattered over the remaining parts of the South Peninsula.
Good show on Thursday
The North-East monsoon had a field day yesterday (Thursday) with heavy to very heavy rain lashing a number of places across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The main stations receiving heavy precipitation (in cm) included Tambaram-15; IAF Tambaram-13; Jayamkondam-10; Sriperumbudur-9 cm: KM Koil-8 cm; Cuddalore and Sirkali-7 cm; Mayiladuthurai, Chidambaram, Puducherry, Annamalai Nagar, Veppur, Kattumayilur, Eraiyur-6; Taramani, Karaikal, Samayapuram, Tondi, Thiruthuraipoondi, Parangipettai, Sathyabama University, Sethiathope, Ariyalur, Anaikaranchatram, Anna University, Chennai Airport-5; Nagapattinam, Pattukottai, Srimushnam, Manamadurai, Panchapatti, Pudukottai, RS Mangalam, Valinokkam, Karaikudi, Vilupuram, Aduthurai, Tiruvadanai, Tiruvarur, Thiruvidaimaruthur, Chembarabakkam, Poonamallee, Perungalur, Periya Kalapet (Puducherry), Tiruchendur, and Virudachalam-4 cm.
The forecast
The IMD forecast for today (Friday) suggested light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal while it could be heavy to very heavy at isolated places. The outlook for tomorrow said that heavy to very heavy rain may occur at isolated places over these areas.
Chennai's weather bloggers and the Twitterati rejoiced as the North-East monsoon came into its own and promised to deliver even more over the next couple of days:
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