Chennai saw good rains during the southwest monsoon, recording 34% excess rainfall. The city is now gearing up for the onset of the northeast monsoon that is expected to begin in less than a week.
Speaking to reporters, Regional Meteorological Centre’s Director Balachandran said, “The Easterly winds have started to blow and the southwest winds are slowly receding in the north. The northeast monsoon is expected to begin from October 17.”
Minister for Revenue RB Udhayakumar has said that precautionary measures are being taken to ensure the state is prepared for emergency situations, like a flood. Speaking to reporters, he said that a total of 4,399 flood-prone areas have been identified and are being prepared ahead of the onset of the NE monsoons.
On Sunday, most parts of the state recorded a good amount of convectional rainfall, including Vellore, Dharmapuri, Salem, Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Madurai, Dindigul, Sivagangai and Virudhunagar districts. Gobichettipalayam in Erode district recorded the highest amount of rainfall at 13 cms. Sankaridurg in Salem, Bhavani in Erode and Sendamangalam in Namakkal recorded 6 cms each on Sunday.
Heavy rain is likely to occur in isolated places over Tamil Nadu, accompanied by thunderstorms with lightning in some areas, until October 17, Thursday.
As for Chennai, the sky condition is likely to remain generally cloudy with light rain likely in some areas for the next 48 hours. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 34 and 27 degree Celsius respectively in the city for the next two days, that is, Monday and Tuesday.
This southwest monsoon, Chennai received 587.8 mm of rainfall as opposed to its normal measurement of 439.6 mm, according to the information provided on Regional Meteorological Centre’s web page.
Last year, the northeast monsoon began after a delay of 11 days, on November 1, due to extended southwest monsoon activity. The northeast monsoons usually begin by October 20 with a deviation of five days.
The northeast monsoon or 'retreating monsoon' commences following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon. The small-scale northeast monsoon is confined to parts of southern peninsular India, which includes Tamil Nadu, Kerala coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and south interior Karnataka. According to a recent update by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon has started withdrawing from some parts of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan on October 9, as against the normal date of September 1.