Met Dept issues orange alert for TN’s coastal districts on Friday, Saturday

Low pressure area to bring heavy rainfall over southern and coastal districts; other parts of the State may also get moderate rains

Heavy rains are possible in isolated places over six districts -- Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam. A scene at bus stand in Ramanathapuram on Tuesday

A low pressure area that has formed over the central parts of South Bay of Bengal, is likely to bring widespread rainfall over Tamil Nadu from Friday. Heavy-intensity rainfall is likely to be witnessed over a number of districts over the coastal and southern region, as the system moves towards the Tamil Nadu coast.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai has issued an orange alert for coastal districts of the State as heavy rainfall is likely to occur over a few places and the intensity may increase to ‘very heavy’ (between 11.5 cm and 20.4 cm) in one or two places on Friday and Saturday. The orange alert indicates that government authorities must be prepared to handle weather-related events.

Officials noted that the low pressure area has formed under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal. The weather system is likely to move westwards towards the TN coast during the next three days and bring heavy to very heavy rainfall between October 29 to October 31 over some parts of the State.

While heavy rains are possible in isolated places over six districts -- Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam districts, and Karaikal on Thursday, coastal and interior parts may receive light to moderate rains.

On Friday and Saturday, the Meteorological department predicts scattered heavy rain over coastal and south Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal and one or two places in these parts may receive very heavy rainfall. Many places over other parts of Tamil Nadu may get rains of moderate intensity.

Nearly eight districts, including Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Ramanathapuram, are expected to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall on Sunday.

Light rain is likely to occur in some areas in Chennai till Saturday, and the day temperature will be around 32 degree Celsius. Squally winds with speeds reaching 40-50 km per hour gusting up to 60 kmph may prevail over southwest Bay of Bengal and along and off the TN and Andhra Pradesh coasts between Thursday and Saturday.