Heavy rains pounded several parts of the State under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal off the Sri Lanka coast.
Thoothukudi and Tiruchendur experienced a torrential downpour till Friday morning, disrupting the normal life of residents. The weather stations in Thoothukudi recorded a whopping 26 cm of rainfall till 5.30 a.m. on Friday, one of the highest quantum of rainfall for the day. Tiruchendur and Thootthukudi port received intense rainfall of 19.4 cm and 16 cm during the same period.
Many other rain gauges in other parts of the State recorded heavy rainfall too. Karaikal and Perambalur recorded severe rainfall of 11 cm till early hours of Friday; Cuddalore and Neyveli (7 cm); Aruppukottai (6 cm) and Madurai and Tiruchi (5 cm) were among the other stations that received good rain spells.
Chennai woke up to a heavy downpour and thunderstorms as many weather stations in and around the city registered moderate to heavy spells of rains. Following heavy rains, a holiday was declared for schools in many districts, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram and Tiruvannamalai.
While Nungambakkam recorded rains of moderate intensity of 4 cm, rains were slightly heavier in Meenmabakkam with 6.2 cm on Friday. Rain gauges in Satyabhama University (9 cm), Chembarambakkam (9 cm), Kundrathur (10 cm), YMCA Nandanam (6.4 cm), MRC Nagar (6 cm) West Tambaram (4 cm) too recorded rains of varied intensity from heavy to moderate.
IMD has issued an orange alert for Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari as rains may be very heavy on Friday and yellow alert for north coastal districts like Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Cuddalore as heavy rains are possible till Saturday morning.
On Saturday, the department has upgraded the rain alert for Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts from yellow to orange as rains may become more intense. Heavy rains may continue over the city on Saturday too.
