Rainfall over the State is likely to steadily increase from Tuesday. With the weather conditions turning favourable, the northeast monsoon is expected to arrive by October 26, according to the Meteorological Department.
The weather inference of the department on Monday noted that the southwest monsoon is likely to withdraw completely in two days.
S.B. Thampi, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, Chennai, said, “We are expecting the seasonal wind reversal to occur on Tuesday and Wednesday. Westerly winds are already weakening and giving way to easterly winds that would usher in the northeast monsoon. Scattered rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is expected from Wednesday where 25-50 % of the weather stations would record rainfall.”
This is expected become more widespread by Thursday wherein nearly 75 % of the State and Puducherry region would receive rainfall, enabling the Meteorological Department to make a declaration on the onset of the monsoon. “Sometimes, the gap between the withdrawal of southwest monsoon and onset of northeast monsoon may be limited to one or two days,” he added. The rain may continue till the weekend.
Districts, including Nagapattinam and Chennai, will depend on northeast monsoon to bridge the deficit in rainfall. While Nagapattinam has received only 57 cm against its annual average of 143 cm, Chennai Nungambakkam needs 73 cm more of rainfall to touch its yearly quota of 140 cm.
The Meteorological Department forecasts that Chennai may receive rain or thundershowers in some areas till Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the State Disaster Management Authority is also gearing up to tackle issues related to the monsoon.
K. Satyagopal, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, said the website of Tamil Nadu Disaster Management Authority is undergoing a revamp and would be ready in a few days. Residents may post their monsoon-related complaints on the website too. The Authority already operates two emergency helplines — 1070 and 1077.
A total of 4,399 teams, including volunteers and officials from various government agencies, have been formed for rescue operations in case of flooding. Teams of officials are involved in reviewing the monsoon preparedness measures in various districts, including Chennai, he added.
