Chennaiites woke up to a pleasantly dark sky and rain on Wednesday morning. Coming after a day of searing heat, the light showers were a result of a weak low pressure area formed over west central Bay of Bengal off the coast of Andhra Pradesh and north Tamil Nadu.
The rain which started in the early hours of Wednesday saw water stagnating on many roads and, as a result, traffic moved at a slow pace. Motorists who took the stretch of Inner Ring Road at Koyambedu had difficulty in negotiating the road owing to water stagnation. The construction of grade separator by the National Highways Authority of India compounded their problems.
The Chennai Corporation received complaints of fallen tree branches from Poonamallee High Road, Pulianthope, Choolai, Sri Nagar Colony, Saidapet and many other residential areas.
Officials of the Meteorological Department said the day temperature on Wednesday witnessed a sharp drop. While the observatory in Nungambakkam recorded a maximum temperature of 27.9 degree Celsius, in Meenambakkam it was 28.4 degree Celsius. On Tuesday the maximum temperature was 38 degree Celsius.
Y.E.A.Raj, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said rarely does the city receive rain in early June. The last time it happened was in 1991, when on June 5 Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 18 cm and 13 cm respectively. During the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam registered 15 mm and 24 mm of rainfall respectively.
The observatories registered a rainfall of 3 mm and 2 mm respectively between 8.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday.
This month, Nungambakkam registered 43 mm of rainfall and Meenambakkam 56 mm, exceeding the average of 8 mm and 13 mm respectively during this period, he said.
During the 24-hour-period that ended at 8-30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sriperumbudur (Kancheepuram district) and Ponneri (Tiruvallur) recorded 3 cm each and Tiruvallur 2 cm.
Apart from Chennai and neighbourhood, other coastal parts of north Tamil Nadu did not receive rainfall, according to Mr. Raj.
Officials said Chennai and surrounding areas would receive one or two spells of rain or thundershowers on Thursday.
Chennai Corporation zonal officials said that barring areas and roads without stormwater drains there was not much flooding. Mayor M.Subramanian said that stormwater drains would be constructed at locations that do not have SWD under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
