NE monsoon to set in by month-end

City may experience light showers today

The northeast monsoon is likely to set in over the State by October third week.

While the city awaits NE monsoon, the Meteorological Department forecasts chances of light rains due to convective activity in some parts of Chennai till Saturday.

If the cyclonic circulation running over Comorin area to coastal A.P. across Tamil Nadu had remained above 1.5 km, interior areas in Tamil Nadu would have experienced more rains, said N. Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre.

Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon may retreat in most parts of the country in a week, say meteorologists.

It is one of the most delayed withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in recent years. Weather bloggers note that the strong Indian Ocean Dipole, which is an irregular oscillation of the sea’s surface temperature, could be one of the reasons for the prolonged southwest monsoon this year.

According to the northeast monsoon outlook of the weather blogging site,

Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam , the northeast monsoon may set in between October 21 and October 24 and coincide with a possible weather system over south Bay of Bengal.

Weather blogger K. Srikanth said: “This NE monsoon, there may be six to seven weather systems. There is also a fair chance of coastal areas, including Chennai, to experience above average or excess rainfall.”