CHENNAI: After running the air conditioner on full force throughout the day for several weeks, Chennai experienced a day that stood in stark contrast on Thursday, a day when many had to turn on the geyser and preferred hot coffee and tea over cold drinks.
Thanks to the mild but intermittent showers that started on Wednesday and continued throughout the day, the maximum temperature plunged by 10.3° Celsius in Meenambakkam, while the fall was 8.1° Celsius below normal at Nungambakkam. These stations recorded 28.1° Celsius and 29.3° Celsius on Thursday.
The persistent showers forced many to take out their umbrellas and dust their raincoats while heading outside.
The rains were much stronger elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, especially the Cauvery Delta districts and the ones in the south. Pattukottai in Thanjavur district recorded a whopping 160 mm rain in the 24 hours that ended at 8.30 am, followed by Singampunari in Sivaganga (140mm), and Mannargudi in Tiruvarur (130mm).
Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, has issued a red alert for three districts of Tamil Nadu for Friday. According to the warning, isolated heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain at one or two places is likely to occur over Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts.
An orange alert has been issued for Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Sivaganga and Tiruvarur districts, where heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected.
Yellow warning for heavy rain is issued for Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Tiruchy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Cuddalore districts.