Vanakkam! So, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has come out with a tell-tale account of how the rains have not only been denied to the North-East monsoon playground of Tamil Nadu, but they are also being delayed. The outlook for the next two weeks is good only in parts; normal to below normal. It all boils down to one being at the right place and at the right time.

 

So, the IMD's outlook is for above-normal rainfall for North Coastal Odisha, the plains of Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and South Assam.

All thanks to raging severe cyclone Bulbul in the Bay choosing to rob Peter to pay Paul! How else can one explain Bulbul's act of taking away from Tamil Nadu what should have been the rains coming Tamil Nadu's way.

 

Which meant that the week ending in the first week of November (October 31 to November 6) leaves a deficit of 22 for the South Peninsula as a whole.

Tamil Nadu recorded a deficit 30 per cent; neighbouring South Interior Karnataka saw a deficit of 31 per cent; Rayalaseema was even worse at 74 per cent; and Coastal Andhra Pradesh, 86 per cent.

Kerala, Coastal Karnataka and Telangana seemed to have benefited from the erstwhile extremely severe cyclone Kyarr that tracked along the Arabian Sea after originating from, where else, Tamil Nadu's backyard!

However, when viewed for the season as a whole, the South Peninsula (October 1 to November 6) recorded a surplus of 38 per cent; with Tamil Nadu recording normal rainfall (4 per cent above normal); South Interior Karnataka, a surplus of 68 per cent; Rayalaseema, 12 per cent above normal, and Coastal Andhra Pradesh, 11 per cent above normal.

 

As for today (Friday), expect winds south-westerly to westerly at 10 am, apparently under the pull of severe cyclone Bulbul farther away in the Bay of Bengal. Wind speeds are relatively better, though.

Temperature at 31.5 degrees Celsius and dew point temperature at 27 degrees Celsius with humidity at around 80 per cent under partly cloudy skies hardly helps the cause of rain.

Fairly widespread rain is the call for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as a whole for the day, thanks again to the southerly to south-westerly to westerly winds from the Arabian Sea, dragged in by Bulbul. But partly cloudy conditions is what's in store for Chennai.

Temperature at 30 degrees Celsius but humidity at much lower levels is how domestic private weather forecaster Skymet Weather assesses it:

 

Sunny with temperatures at 31 degrees Celsius (feels like 37 degrees Celsius) and winds westerly to south-westerly and humidity at 69 per cent, says Weather.com, an IBM Business.

 

Temperature at 32 degrees Celsius at Chennai International Airport (feels like 41 degrees Celsius), humidity at 71 per cent under partly cloudy conditions, with winds being south-south-westerly, says WeatherBug.

 

Chennai’s bloggers and Twitterati were agog discussing several possibilities with severe cyclone Bulbul playing at the back of their minds:

 

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