No rain; nippy weather to continue a few more days

Calm winds, little cloud cover and high humidity levels have resulted in chilly nights and misty mornings. Photo: K. Pichumani

The wait for rains in the city may get longer as, meteorologists forecast, the nippy weather is here to stay for another three to four days.

There is no scope for rains till Tuesday as the northeasterly winds are weak. There is a slight chance for light showers on Tuesday night or early Wednesday as a weak weather system develops, say meteorologists.

R. Suresh, director, Aerodrome Meteorological Centre, says calm winds, a stable atmosphere with no cloud cover and humidity levels that notch up to 70-80 per cent late in the day lead to chilly nights and misty mornings. The mist cover has not disrupted aviation operations as visibility levels are high.

“Only if the northeasterly winds gain speed, can we expect some rains over the city. However, the monsoon is also about seasonal reversal of wind. Until the northeasterlies are there, even small disturbances in the weather can bring rain in January too,” he says.

On Saturday, Chennai recorded a minimum temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, one degree lower than the average. Officials attribute this to less cloud cover.

S.B. Thampi, deputy director general of meteorology, Chennai, says the average rainfall over the State, for the season, is still normal because of good rains over the southern parts. Chennai has recorded a rainfall of 60 cm, so far, this monsoon — a deficit of 14 cm.

“Once the chilly weather sets in, chances for intense development of weather systems over the Bay of Bengal are fewer. But, we cannot rule out rain entirely,” he says.

Water storage dwindles

As the northeast monsoon so far has failed to replenish the city’s water resources, the Water Resources Department and Metrowater have requested their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh to step up the release of Krishna water to manage the dwindling storage in reservoirs.

Sources in Metrowater say they have requested Andhra Pradesh officials to control the illegal tapping of Krishna water. “We have only 25 per cent storage in the reservoirs. We need an inflow of 250 cubic feet per second to manage supply and storage for the city,” says an official.

While steady supply from the Veeranam tank in Cuddalore district and the desalination plants are a solace, Metrowater is also planning to implement contingency plans to tackle the water crisis.