Thunderstorm activity may continue over interior areas of the State till the weekend. After a lull, there may be an increase in rainfall over the Western Ghats and north interior parts from Monday, according to the Meteorological Department.
After a relatively hot day on Wednesday when the mercury level soared above 38 degree Celsius, parts of the city and suburbs woke up to light showers on Thursday. The automatic rain gauges in Ambattur (3 cm), Poonamallee, Red Hills and Madhavaram (2 cm) recorded light rain during early morning hours.
Several weather stations, including Thiruvalangadu, in Tiruvallur, registered moderate to heavy rain. Yercaud in Salem district received heavy rain of 10 cm, which was the highest amount recorded in a single day, till 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. Thunderstorms lashed many other interior areas too. The scattered rain also helped bring relief from the heat on Thursday. For instance, Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded a day temperature of 36.5 degree Celsius, which was slightly below normal for the period.
Officials of the Meteorological Department said the spatial coverage of thunderstorms could be less from Friday, and could be limited to interior parts of the State. However, there may be an increase in rain over north interior and coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry from Sunday.
Few places in districts along Western Ghats and north interior parts of the State may experience heavy rain due to convective activity and a weather system on June 28.
As the Southwest monsoon is weak in other parts except for Andhra Pradesh, thunderstorms were triggered over Tamil Nadu. However, there may be a brief lull in rains during the rest of the week as the Bay of Bengal is active. The monsoon current may pick up and bring rain over western ghats, said an official. The entire State has received 31% excess rain this season since June 1.
