The Northeast monsoon is set to take a short break over the State for the next few days. The Meteorological Department forecasts largely dry weather in most parts till November 22.
During the past 24 hours, ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday, Ottapidaram in Thoothukudi district received the highest amount of rainfall of 12 cm. Coonoor in Nilgiris district recorded the next highest rainfall of 9 cm.
The Meteorological Department said a low pressure area had formed over central parts of the Arabian Sea and this may intensify into a depression by November 21. However, it might not have much impact.
While light rain is possible in one or two places in south Tamil Nadu, dry weather is likely to prevail over north Tamil Nadu till November 22. There may be a slight increase in rainfall around November 23 and the next spell may begin around November 24, officials said.
The city may experience dry weather, and the maximum temperature may be around 34 degree Celsius for two days. The recent rainspell had helped in bringing down the deficit in seasonal rainfall over Tamil Nadu. Since October 1, the State has so far recorded an average of 24 cm, which is short of its normal monsoon rains by 21%.
While many districts are yet to get their seasonal total rainfall, districts, including Ariyalur, Vellore, Tiruchi, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam, are among the most rain-deficient, with the shortfall above 45%.
Inflow into city reservoirs, like Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, dropped to below 200 cusecs on Thursday. The storage at Chembarambakkam reservoir stood at 2,936 million cubic feet against its capacity of 3,645 mcft. Its water level has reached 21.31 ft against the full level of 24 ft.
“We will maintain the level at 22 ft this month and take a decision on opening sluices depending on inflow and rainfall,” said a Water Resources Department official. Of the 909 waterbodies in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu, nearly 126 tanks have reached capacity as on Thursday. While 223 tanks have touched more than 75% of their storage, 267 of them have half of their storage capacity, according to the WRD.
