Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu are likely to witness extremely heavy rainfall as Cyclone Nivar is expected to cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts, between Karaikal in Puducherry and Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, on the afternoon of November 25. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in a bulletin stated that the depression over southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm over the next 24 hours.
The IMD has predicted widespread rainfall/thunderstorm activity over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal from November 24 to November 26. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will witness isolated extremely heavy rainfall on November 24 and 25. On November 25, especially, Tamil Nadu is predicted to receive rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places.
According to a report in TOI, Chennai is expected to receive around 6 to 10 cm rains. S Balachandran, the Deputy Director-General of the regional meteorological centre in Chennai, told the newspaper that rains will start in coastal Tamil Nadu districts on Monday and then intensify over the next two days.
As of Monday morning, the depression was located about 600 km south-southeast off the coast of Puducherry and around 630 km south-southeast of Chennai. It is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by 5.30 pm on November 24, and will remain so till it weakens into a deep depression by 5.30 am on November 26.
#CycloneNivar projected path. Likely to move northwestwards and cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mamallapuram around 25th November 2020 afternoon, says @IMDWeather pic.twitter.com/oQEK2ACEc9
— Sanyukta (@dramadhikari) November 23, 2020
Six teams of NDRF have been deployed to Cuddalore and Chidambaram towns in Cuddalore district in the wake of cyclonic storm warning issued by IMD, reported news agency ANI.
The IMD predicts that the sea condition will range from rough to very rough along and off Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts on November 24. The sea condition is predicted to be very high along and off north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts on November 25.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into southwest and adjoining west-central and southeast Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Mannar and along and off the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry from November 23 to 25. The fishermen who are currently out at sea have been advised to return to the coast and avoid the coast for the next few days.