Evening showers likely in some localities of the city today

Intense heat triggers thunderstorm activity late on Wednesday

Dark clouds hovering over the city sky.

After a hot day, some parts of the city received thundershowers on Wednesday evening. A few localities in Chennai will continue to witness thunderstorm activity during evening or night hours on Thursday.

Areas like Perambur, Kolathur and Chintadripet received a brief spell of rain on Wednesday evening. Officials of the Meteorological Department said westerly and northwesterly winds would bring showers to the city. On Wednesday, weather stations in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 38 degrees Celsius and 37.2 degrees Celsius respectively.

The intense heat during the day triggered thunderstorm activity in the evening. The same weather pattern would continue on Thursday, Met officials said. Though Chennai’s lakes are still dry, it has received 260 mm of rainfall this season, which is 12% more than the average of 233 mm for this season, according to the Meteorological Department.

During the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday, Meenambakkam recorded 13 mm of rainfall while Nungambakkam received only a marginal 1.4 mm of rainfall. Rainfall would remain localised.

The Meteorological Department has forecast that districts in Western Ghats that were pounded by rains last week may experience moderate rainfall on Thursday. One or two areas in the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts are likely to receive very heavy rainfall and this may reduce to heavy rainfall on Friday.

N. Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Chennai said parts of south Tamil Nadu and interior parts of the State are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall till Friday. “We expect the convective rainfall activity to increase from Saturday. About 50% of the districts may experience scattered rainfall from Saturday,” he said.

Meanwhile, rainfall may begin to decrease over districts along the Western Ghats from Saturday. There is no significant weather system to bring widespread showers across the State, he said. The State has registered 134.8 mm of rainfall, against the average of 164.5 cm, this season. This is considered normal by the Meteorological Department. Districts such as Ariyalur, Dindigul and Ramanathapuram are facing a deficit.