The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) forecast that over the next 48 hours, the South-West Monsoon will withdraw from the country, thereby making the conditions favourable for the onset of North-East monsoon.
According to reports, while most parts of Tamil Nadu have started receiving heavy to very heavy rainfall, Chennai has remained dry till Friday. The rains in Chennai on Friday morning and a cloudy morning on Saturday indicated the onset of the North-East monsoon.
Stating that the meteorological department is closely monitoring the situation, a weatherman at the RMC said that North-East monsoon could immediately set in once the South-West monsoon withdraws in the next two days.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Saturday. It has also forecast cloudy skies over Chennai on Saturday with the possibility of rains in some areas in Chennai.
Most parts of Tamil Nadu receives its share of annual rainfall from the North-East monsoon. Starting in October every year, the rainy season goes on till December. In 2017, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry together received an average rainfall of 401.00 mm of rainfall during the North-East monsoon period.
Recently, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘Red Alert’ to Tamil Nadu in the first week of October and withdrew it within hours of issuing it. Stating that the wind distribution and the moisture distribution changed which led to the withdrawal of the alert, S Balachandran, the deputy director of IMD Chennai said that it was a slight miscalculation that led to the issuance of Red Alert, reported the Times of India.
Adding that weather is a natural and a complex process, Balachandran said that tropical meteorology has its own limitations. The wind patterns in the tropics is not as clearly defined as they are in the higher latitudes.