Chennai finally recorded first heavy spell of the Northeast Monsoon 2018 during the last 24 hours. Nungambakkam Observatory recorded 94 mm of rain, while Minambakkam received 87 mm. In fact, it had recorded rains nonstop for the 30 hours, beginning Wednesday evening.
Rains took a break Thursday forenoon onward, but isolated showers continued over many places. As reiterated, these rains were on the account of the well-marked low pressure are over Southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Tamil Nadu coast. The system is now seen as a low pressure area over Interior Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas, moving westwards.
However, the cloud cover had kept the day temperatures, which settled at 28°C today. According to Skymet Weather, clouding would continue to persist over the capital city during the next 24 hours.
Short spells of rains of light to moderate intensity are expected to continue over the state capital, predict weathermen. However, rains would reduce significantly by November 23 as system would weaken further.
This year, Chennai has been battling high seasonal rainfall deficiency as high as over 61%. With these rains, slight improvement could be seen but any major difference is not on cards.
Northeast Monsoon is the main rainy season for Tamil Nadu including Chennai, with November being the rainiest month. However, Chennai has not seen any significant rainy spell till now. Last good spell was recorded on October 31 that was to the tune of 36 mm only.
Further, there is no good news in the offing for the city. Weather models are not indicating towards any good spell in sight. Clock is ticking as November is reaching towards the end and December onwards rains start reducing. We are afraid that Chennai would not be able to cover up for the rainfall deficiency.
Courtesy - skymetweather.com