It is "raining" in Chennai

Another wet morning .. .. it is raining somewhat heavily at times and drizzling at rest ! Rains in Chennai, in November are not new, yet we perhaps are increasingly feeling rains causing disruption to normal life – why ?

 

To birds, it disrupts, for it is harder to find food ! .. .. flowers blossom with rain !

 

We are able to see dark clouds. Clouds are made of water droplets. Within a cloud, water droplets condense onto one another, causing the droplets to grow. When these water droplets get too heavy to stay suspended in the cloud, they fall to Earth as rain. The prefix "nimbo-" or the suffix "-nimbus" are low-level clouds that have their bases below 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above the Earth. Clouds that produce rain and snow fall into this category. ("Nimbus" comes from the Latin word for "rain.") Two examples are the nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds. Nimbostratus clouds bring continuous precipitation that can last for many hours. These low-level clouds are full of moisture.

 

According to news reports, heavy rain lashed many districts of Tamil Nadu  causing waterlogging in several areas. Due to bad weather, a Chennai-Thoothukudi flight was diverted to Trichy. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Thursday predicted heavy rainfall across the state for the next five days. In its latest forecast, IMD predicted extremely heavy rainfall in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Tenkasi districts till tomorrow evening. Here is a INSAT 3D image released by IMD @ 0730 am this morning. Yesterday, the IMD said that a low pressure area was likely to form over southwest Bay of Bengal that will bring heavy rainfall in several parts of Tamil Nadu. 

It states that - Chennai and its neighbouring districts, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur, will also experience rains in the coming days. Thunderstorm with moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over South Tamil Nadu districts. Thunderstorm with light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over rest Coastal Tamil Nadu. 

Going by the predictions (leaving aside the much-hyped predictions of some weather bloggers who by chance succeed and failures go unnoticed) - Chennai may have to brace for another downpour, as rainfall may steadily increase from Thursday onwards. The city may begin to experience moderate rain from Thursday, and the intensity may peak to very heavy rains on November 27 and November 28. 

An India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin issued at 12.30 p.m. said this weather system is likely to move west-northwestwards towards Sri Lanka and the south Tamil Nadu coast. A trough that runs from the weather system to south Tamil Nadu in the lower tropospheric level will also ensure that rainfall covers most parts of the State.  According to S. Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai said heavy rains may start from south Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and cover north coastal and adjoining interior districts. This rain spell may last till the month-end. This is a slow moving system and it is taking time to intensify. It may cover a large area with rainfall of varied intensity, he said. As the system is at a low latitude, the chances for it to intensify are low.   

On November 26 too, very heavy rains may occur in isolated places in delta districts, Cuddalore, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and Karaikal. Chennai and its neighbouring districts and Puducherry may begin to get heavy rains from Friday. From Saturday, north coastal and adjoining interior districts, including Chennai and Cuddalore, may receive heavy to very heavy rains in isolated places. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
26.11.2021