North coastal Tamil Nadu may begin to get rains from November 14 evening. There are chances for moderate rainfall over Chennai too from Wednesday due to a cyclonic storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal.
The well-marked low pressure area over south-east Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Andaman sea, about 1,220 km east south-east of Chennai and 1,270 km east south-east of Nellore is expected to become cyclonic storm by early hours of Monday. It is likely to move west south-westwards towards north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts by November 14 night.
According to IMD bulletin, there is a probability for the weather system to turn into severe cyclonic storm by November 13 with wind speeds gusting up to 135 kmph.
Moderate rain
N. Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Chennai, said the weather system is expected to bring moderate rainfall from Wednesday evening over many places of north coastal districts, including Tiruvallur, Chennai and Cuddalore. One or two places may have chances of heavy rainfall too.
“We are tracking the system’s movement and intensity that will determine rains spreading over interior parts of the State. Its movement and strength will determine the rain spell,” he said. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into south-east and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal from Sunday and those engaged in deep sea fishing have also been advised to return to the coast before November 12.
Until then, only one or two places in the State are likely to receive rains, he added. As on Saturday, the State has recorded 20 cm of rainfall against its average of 26 cm so far for the season since October 1. Chennai’s north-east monsoon rainfall has fallen short by 50% this season.