Ditwah weakens into a depression; heavy rain continues in north Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said the deep depression of Cyclonic Storm Ditwah had further weakened into a depression on Tuesday morning. Heavy showers continued to lash parts of north Chennai, with Ennore recording 26 cm of rainfall on Tuesday.

The system, located over the southwest Bay of Bengal and the north Tamil Nadu–Puducherry–south Andhra Pradesh coasts, moved slowly at about three kmph over the past six hours. At 5.30 pm, it was centred around 80 km from Chennai and 60 km from Puducherry. An orange alert has been issued for the Western Ghats for Wednesday.

According to the RMC, the minimum distance of the centre of the depression from the north Tamil Nadu–Puducherry coasts was about 25 km. It is expected to move slowly southwestwards towards the coast and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area over the next 12 hours.

The 24-hour rainfall data recorded on Tuesday showed extremely heavy rain in parts of north Chennai. Ennore topped the list with 26 cm, followed by Parrys (25 cm), Ice House (22 cm), and Manali New Town and Ponneri (21 cm each). Basin Bridge and Perambur recorded 20 cm each.

The RMC weather bulletin said heavy to very heavy rain is likely at isolated places in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts on Wednesday. Heavy rain is also likely at isolated places in Theni, Dindigul, Tiruppur, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Salem and Namakkal.

Fishermen along the Tamil Nadu coast were advised not to venture into the sea, with squally winds reaching speeds of 45–55 kmph and gusting to 65 kmph expected until the evening of December 2. Wind speeds are likely to gradually reduce to 35–45 kmph, gusting to 55 kmph, by the morning of December 3. Very rough to rough sea conditions are expected to prevail until December 3 morning, improving gradually thereafter.