Hours after ringing in the New Year with much cheer, joy and fireworks, residents of Chennai woke up to a pleasant surprise as heavy rains descended on the city.
Around 6 a.m., showers began in several areas of the city including Nungambakkam, Arumbakkam, Choolaimedu, Cathedral Road, Mylapore, Royapettah, T. Nagar and Maduravoyal. The few hours of the rains saw Nungambakkam getting about 2 cm of rains and Chennai Airport 3 cm. The weather station in Satyabhama College, in Kancheepuram district, recorded the maximum of 4 cm followed by Kolappakkam with 3 cm while Tambaram and Sriperumbudur got 2 cm each of rains respectively.
Meteorological department officials said these rains are the result of Northeast monsoon activity and are likely to taper off in a few days. S. Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology said, “This Northeast monsoon for the city was much better than the previous year; we received around 63 cm of the rainfall between October and December, against the normal of 76 cm.”
He noted that of the three months, the city got maximum rains in October with 28 cm in October while November and December saw 14 cm and 21 cm rainfall respectively.
“The sky condition is likely to be generally cloudy. Light to moderate rain is likely to occur in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 29 and 24 degree Celsius respectively,” the meteorological department said.
In Tamil Nadu, the average rainfall recorded between October to December was 44 cm and districts like Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Tirunelveli got excess rainfall, he said.
