As Chennai and its suburbs woke up to heavy rains on Thursday morning owing to the northeast monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast cloudy skies and intermittent rains over the next 24 hours. The Met Department also stated that Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Chennai, Ranipet, Villupuram, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram will witness heavy rains in isolated areas.
Chennai city received heavy rainfall in the wee hours of Thursday till around 10 am with several areas of the city recording over 170 mm of rainfall in a span of a few hours. In a latest update, the IMD also said, "A cyclonic circulation lies over north Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra Pradesh & neighbourhood in lower & mid-tropospheric levels. Under its influence, scattered rainfall with moderate thunderstorm & lightning very likely over Kerala,Tamil Nadu & Puducherry during next 5 days."
According to a blog post by private weather blogger Pradeep John who goes by the name Tamil Nadu Weatherman, Chennai residents can expect a rainy day on Thursday till the evening with some breaks in between. As of 6 am on Thursday, Mylapore (DGP office) l received around 178 mm of rainfall and Anna University received 139 mm of rainfall. Redhills Lake received 128 mm of rains while Nungambakkam received 127 mm of rains based on the data available with private rain gauges. Parrys area received 94 mm of rains while Ambattur received 90 mm of rainfall as at 6 am on Thursday.
This is the highest amount of rainfall Chennaj has received in 24 hours since November 2017, said Pradeep John.
Several residents also received a text message purportedly from the government early on Thursday morning which said that Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram areas will witness heavy rains for the next three hours (upto 9 am) and warned the residents to stay safe.
Several roads including the arterial ones in Chennai were waterlogged due to the heavy rains that lashed the city during the night. Wall Tax Road near Egmore, roads around Chennai Central railway station and parts of Anna Salai reported severe waterlogging on Thursday morning. Several vehicles were partially submerged and pedestrians were left to wade through the water in these areas to reach their destinations. Vyasarpadi, Egmore, Parrys, Palavakkam, Thiruvanmiyur, MMDA Colony and Kilpauk also witnessed waterlogging.
The northeast monsoon set in over Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Unlike other parts of the country, Chennai receives a majority of its annual rainfall (63%) during the northeast monsoon season. Tamil Nadu receives 48% of its annual rainfall between October and December.
Chennai corporation number for rain-related emergencies.
044 2538 4530, 044 2538 4540
1913 helpline