Despair over the monsoon this year may just turn to relief, as weather models of the meteorological department indicate that coastal districts in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, may just receive some scattered rainfall.
The northeast monsoon season has nearly ended, but the next few days may see some showers. An active easterly wave over the Bay of Bengal is set to bring rainfall to the coastal districts and isolated showers to interior parts regions.
The rains will initially hit the southern coastal districts and spread to north Tamil Nadu by Friday.
Gusty winds and cloudy skies ensured the city stayed cool on Wednesday despite the day temperature hovering one degree above the normal of 28 degree Celsius.
Unlike in previous years, the northeast monsoon has had a long dry spell and rains have evaded the city since early this month. The rainfall for the season in the city is short of nearly 29 cm. For the entire State, rains have been deficit by 17 per cent.
Hopes were pinned on the northeast monsoon, which brings the major share of the annual rainfall of 140 cm to the city, this year. The city did not get sufficient rains during the southwest monsoon (between June and September).
Officials of the meteorological department said that they expect the next spell of showers may reduce the shortfall by a few per cent.
Y.E.A. Raj, deputy director general of meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said that the rains are likely to continue till the year-end. It is not clear about the extent of rainfall as of now as clouds are still developing. But, light rains over Chennai are a possibility in the next few days.
The meteorological department has also warned fishermen not to venture into the sea as strong north-easterly winds will blow at a speed of 45-55 km per hour along and off the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts on Thursday.
