Fairly widespread rain may continue over Tamil Nadu till November 23, with isolated heavy rain in some areas, under the influence of the weather system that crossed the Tamil Nadu coast on Friday morning.
The depression crossed the coast of north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh between Puducherry and Chennai between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. It weakened into a well marked low-pressure area over north interior Tamil Nadu and adjoining Karnataka and Rayalaseema. It is likely to move west-northwestwards and weaken gradually by Saturday. However, the remnants of the system will sustain the wet weather. The India Meteorological Department has predicted light to moderate rain in most parts of the State.
Six districts, including the Nilgiris, Erode and Perambalur, may receive heavy rain at one or two places on Saturday. Chennai may receive light rain till Sunday and the maximum temperature may be around 30 degrees Celsius.
S. Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, Chennai, said the red alert for districts like Chennai and Tiruvallur had to be withdrawn as the cloud bands and their orientation shifted with the land interaction of the depression. The system that moved north-westwards yielded rain in the region along its track in the north coastal and interior districts. The southern districts did not record much rain from it, he said.
Water release from the Chembarambakkam and Red Hills reservoirs has been reduced to 500 cubic feet per second (cusecs). Both reservoirs recorded 5 cm of rain. The Tiruvallur district administration issued a flood warning for villages and localities, including Manali and Ennore, adjoining the Kosasthalaiyar, after nearly 30,000 cusecs was released from the Poondi reservoir.
