Heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu takes pre-monsoon bounty to 30% excess, Chennai records 59% deficit

CHENNAI: Despite intermittent rains in the past one week, the pre-monsoon rain data shows a staggering 59 per cent deficit for Chennai, even as the State recorded a 30 per cent excess.

Light showers in the capital on Saturday evening, meanwhile, brought down the maximum temperature – which was hovering at over 39 degrees Celsius – to 38 degrees Celsius, still the highest in the State.

Chennai recorded 18.1 mm of rainfall from March 1, while the normal average is around 44.4 mm, This keeps the city at a deficit of about 59 percent. The city is expected to be partly cloudy with a surge of 2-3 degrees Celsius in the maximum temperature in the coming days.

Heavy rains continued in Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi on Saturday. The recent rains have helped the State to overcome the deficit in the pre-monsoon rains and currently, Tamil Nadu has received 30 per cent excess rainfall so far.

The State has recorded 146.5 mm of actual rainfall against the normal average of 112.8 mm from March 1, 2024, to May 25, 2024. The highest rainfall of 103.2 mm was recorded in Kanniyakumari in the last 24 hours. So far, Kanniyakumari recorded the highest of 445.3 mm of rainfall, which is 83 per cent higher than normal.

The maximum temperature in Chennai is likely to be 39-40 degrees Celsius and the minimum 29-30 degrees Celsius for the next 48 hours. Weather blogger Pradeep John said the heatwave is expected to begin from May 27-28 in the districts neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, including Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Ranipet and Vellore.

The Regional Meteorological Centre on Saturday stated that the depression over the east-central Bay of Bengal has intensified as a deep depression after moving north-northeastwards on Saturday morning. The depression is expected to move northwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on Sunday morning.