Vanakkam! It is only a couple of days since we had observed in this column that it all boils down to being in the right time at the right place place, as far as rain clouds clouds are concerned. And that is something Chennai has been missing out on for some time now. But all cloud paths seemed to converge on Chennai and the rest of the Tamil Nadu coast shortly after midnight on Tuesday, with the easterlies and their phalanx of thunderstorms descending on the city.

It reminded one of the wildly popular and screen-grabbing dialogues of Rajinikanth: “Naan late-aa vanthaalum latest-aa varuven” in the 2002 super-hit movie Baba.

Steady progress

It was a meticulously planned assault with the heavens opening up in Velankanni first and then working their way North to a population eagerly waiting for some decent rains.

So Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Chidambaram (which got drenched), Cuddalore and Puducherry, though not necessarily in that order of priority, got pounded in succession till 1.30 am on Wednesday.

This was about the time the next formation took position off the Puducherry coast, Koonimedu, Mandavai, and Swarnabhoomi even as another system shot past Kalpakkam and emptied itself over Padalam.

And the Mahabalipuram-Kelambakkam-Siruseri stretch had not apparently bargained for the humdinger that overran it simultaneously even as Chennai awaited its turn. It was just a matter of time, since a conflagration of thunderstorms was waiting centred off the coast of Pulicat to hit the city, making it a sitting duck.

It took no more than an hour for them to storm North Chennai—Tiruvottiyur, Vichoor, Padiyanallur, Vallur, Cholavaram, Minjur, Thatchoor and Ponneri—by around 2.40 am, while the stretch from Kelambakkam, Palavakkam, and Velachery also came in for a heavy downpour during the small hours.

The Chennai show

Chennai got what it so rightly deserved from 3.30 am and areas to its South and interior were targeted with a vengeance — from Perungalathur, Gudvanchery, Maraimalainagar, Ammapettai, Sholinganallur, Thoraipakkam, Velachery, Thandalam, Avadi, Thirumazhisai and Mevalurkuppam to Sriperumbudur, Mappedu, Sengadu, Koduvalli, Thamaraipakkam, Periyapalayam,Kannigaipair, Thirupalaivanam to Gummidipundi.

But the big one had still not hit. A fresh and massive band of thunderstorms and heavy rain approached the city and hit the adjoining areas of T Nagar, Adyar, Palavakkam, Thoraipakkam and Sholinganallur at around 6.45 am and a smaller barrage of clouds struck Thiruporur, Kalavakkam, Kelambakkam and Siruseri in quick succession. The pounding continued for almost an hour before the remnants waded into the interior.

What the forecasters say

With helpful north-easterly winds prevailing, moderate rain or thundershowers have been forecast for today under generally cloudy conditions, the Chennai Met Office of the India Meteorological Department said in an early morning outlook.

According to private forecaster Skymet Weather, the rains lashing Chennai may escalate further from tomorrow (Wednesday) as they hitch a ride on an easterly wave. Moderate showers are possible over coastal Tamil Nadu, including Chennai right until Saturday, the agency quoted its Senior meteorologist Mahesh Palawat as saying.

According to the Chennai Met Office, the outlook for the next two to three days is: fairly widespread showers on Wednesday; scattered showers on Thursday; fairly widespread on Friday; and scattered on Saturday.

International forecaster AccuWeather saw misty (rain) conditions at 8.05 am in Chennai with a cloud cover of 90 per cent, humidity of 94 per cent, and northerly wind at 4 km/hr.

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It sees a day with considerable cloudiness punctuated by a couple of showers and a thunderstorm and a mostly cloudy night with a couple of showers.

Cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms is the call from Weather.com, an IBM Business. Winds east-north-easterly, humidity at 89 per cent and a maximum day temperature of 29 degrees Celsius.

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Chennai’s bloggers and Twitterati have been rejoicing, understandably. Here’s what they had to say:

 

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