The month of August has been a blessing for rain-starved Tamil Nadu, with the state receiving 148mm of rains till August 25. This is the second wettest August in the last ten years.
But there’s more good news store for the state and for Chennai, with the Met Department forecasting rains over the next two days.
The Regional Meteorological Department in Chennai predicted that there will be showers and thunderstorms on Saturday evening or night, which will continue on Sunday as well.
Moreover, the districts in north Tamil Nadu will also receive good rains on Saturday. However, south Tamil Nadu will get scattered rains, said the Met Department.
Weather blogger Srikanth, who co-runs the Twitter handle Chennai Rains told TNM, “Tamil Nadu has received 148 mm rains in August which is in excess of the average rainfall for the month. From June to August also, Tamil Nadu received 28% excess rain than average.”
However, he noted that it was the thunderstorms which gave rains to Tamil Nadu and added that there won’t be widespread rains in many parts of the state over the next two days.
Weather blogger Pradeep John, who manages the Facebook Page ‘Tamil Nadu Weatherman’ said that this August could break a ten-year record for the highest rainfall. August 2007 had received 151mm rainfall. “We still have a few days to go and I think we can break that tally. However, the rains seem to be reducing in the coming days for Tamil Nadu.”
Tamil Nadu usually gets good rains in August, said Pradeep John. “It is mainly due to the extended break monsoons that give good rains to Tamil Nadu. Even Chennai has got good rains in August, which stands at 224mm rainfall,” he said.
However, the weather bloggers said that Kanyakumari and Nilgiris areas did not get much rains this year. “Most of the dams are in that region, the water levels have increased but not drastically,” said Pradeep John.