Cyclonic storm Phailin intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm on Thursday, and will bring in more thunderstorms to the city and its neighbourhood.
Several areas of the city experienced light rainfall for the second consecutive day under the influence of the storm.
On Thursday, weather observatories in Nungambakkam and Madhavaram recorded 1 cm of rainfall between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m., officials said.
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The overnight showers and a murky sky cooled the city, and the day temperature was slightly below normal at 32 degree Celsius and 33 degree Celsius at Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam respectively.
Chennai and some areas in the fringes, along with some places in northern Tamil Nadu may get light to moderate rainfall for two more days. However, monsoon activity may be subdued over the rest of the State for the next two or three days.
Phailin is set to cross the north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coastlines between Kalingapatnam and Paradeep on Saturday night.
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Officials of the meteorological department said the cyclonic system may be mistaken as the beginning of the northeast monsoon, but this was not so. The southwest monsoon is still vigorous over coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Though Phailin is in a neighbouring State, it is so powerful that it can bring rains in places that are 1,000 km away. After the system crosses the coast, it will take a few days for it to dissipate.
“We expect the winds to reverse to easterlies around October 17 or 18. This will bring in the ideal environmental setting for the onset of the northeast monsoon,” said Y.E.A. Raj, deputy director general of meteorology, regional meteorological centre, Chennai.
The ports in Chennai, Ennore and Cuddalore has been issued with warnings to hoist distant warning signal number two indicating that the intense storm is still out there at the sea.
The department forecasts rain or thundershowers may occur in some areas until the weekend and the day temperature would remain close to normal.