After a long gap, during which the city battled with rising temperatures, rains returned to Chennai later on Monday night, bringing down mercury and helping to augment water in small tanks, ponds and wells in individual house-holds. There could be more in store, as weathermen have predicted more thunderstorms till Wednesday night.

The gauges recorded 58 mm rain on Monday night, while the four city reservoirs have healthy storage level, much higher than what they had on the same day last year. According to the bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy in the city. Light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely at some areas during evening or night. 

The weather experts have also issued a warning, stating that thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds is likely to occur at isolated places over the state and the neighbouring Puducherry. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 35 and 27 degrees Celsius respectively.

On Monday night, meanwhile, heavy rain accompanied by strong winds lashed most parts of the city and suburbs. “Poonamallee in Tiruvallur district recorded 95 mm of rainfall, while Tiruchy received 66 mm of rain. Similarly, Nungambakkam in Chennai and Madhavaram recorded 58 and 56 mm of rainfall,” data available with the RMC said. 

“Thunderstorm activities will continue across the state. However, the intensity of rain will reduce. This will continue for two more days,” RMC director S Balachandran said.

K Srikanth, a city-based weather blogger, said western suburbs like Poonamallee enjoyed the best spell of rain. “Many places around the city have registered 50 mm rain including airport observatory that recorded 50 mm. South Tamil Nadu and parts of coastal Tamil Nadu to the south of Puducherry could see thunderstorms in one or two places for next two days,” he said. However, things could slow down gradually from Wednesday, as monsoon dynamics once returns from the break, he added.